Job, Paul, Us - August 20, 2010

Daily Lectionary for August 20, 2010

Psalm 119:25-48
Job 2:1-13
Acts 9:1-9
John 6:27-40

Job 2:1-13
"Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?"(v.10)
Satan, who has been out "going to and fro on the earth" has brought a dreadful skin disease on Job.  Job's wife wants Job to curse God.  Job, in his misery, remains resolute.  It's not a why do bad things happen to good people question, it's really more of a submission to God's plan.  Surely Job sees no good in the plan after all that has befallen him in two short chapters of his story and yet he remains convinced that there is a plan - even if he can't make sense of it.  Sometimes patience and resolute faith are the best we can summon.

Acts 9:1-9
Paul's conversion story.  Paul at the outset of this passage is still the enemy of The Way (the Christian community).  Paul has his famous encounter with God on the road to Damascus.  Paul's question is a great one - "Who are you, Lord?"  The wording of the question would suggest that Paul knows who he is talking to.  Maybe he's stalling for time.  Keep God talking to avoid the heart of the matter.  Or maybe he's just at a loss for words. It hasn't hit me in a bright light on the Damascus road kind of way, but I've had that experience of knowing God is confronting me on something and trying to willfully convince myself that maybe I'm not really caught and maybe God isn't really the source of my sense of conviction.  Paul's experience is dramatic and his response is equally dramatic. 

Our day to day situations are often not as dramatic as Paul's conversion or Job's suffering, but they are real.  These two passages have something to say to us about holding firm when things seem to be falling apart and about being responsive to God's presence in our lives however we become aware of God's call.

Pins and needles were the seat cushions of choice in the Love household yesterday.  Eliza, our 12 year old daughter, had been through four days of middle school basketball tryouts and yesterday was the final cut.  She was on the team last year, but past events were no guarantee of future results.  So we waited.  I waited in the parking lot to pick her up.  Julie, was working in another part of the state and checking in regularly by text and phone.  Even Cameron, our 15 (16 on Sunday) called while I was waiting to see if she'd come out with news yet.  And the result was a good one, she's a Lady General for another year.  It's one moment among many and lots of things happened yesterday in the world that are far more important - but it's one of those shared family experiences that will make my memory book. A good, no, great day.