I Know That My Redeemer Lives

Back and forth goes the sparring - the accusations, the reasonings, the theories as to the why's and what's of what is going on. Job, a man of integrity, sits in his painful and helpless condition being schooled by his so-called friends as to why his life has taken a turn for the worse. Job, burdened by the bitter words of his "comforters", grasps for relief, and searches for reasons behind his current condition. 

Life's big question remains unanswered for Job: "Why?" It often does for us as well.

Maybe we'd be better qualified to counsel Job because we have the curtain drawn back, the blanket lifted, on what is really happening in his life. Maybe not. Either way, played out before us is a heavenly sparring, a battle in the celestial arena, a fight over the truth that Job belongs to God ("Have you considered my servant, Job?").¹ Here we gain insight into the source of Job's difficulty: a battle between accuser and defender.² By the end of Job's story, we see that he is lifted from the depths to his rightful place by his defender. But until then, he waits.

In a similar way, the battle rages in our own lives. But we are not unaware of the accuser's schemes;³ even though we forget at times. As Jesus said, "The thief comes only to steal, kill, and destroy." Ah, but Jesus, our Redeemer who stood on dust, robed in dust, gives us life,⁴ true life, abundantly. Our Redeemer lives; he understands our weaknesses. He knows that our strength is but dust,⁵ for he experienced the nature of our frames of dust.⁶ Like sheep, we are prone to wander.

Don't let the forum of public opinion cast you to the side. Your Redeemer lives. Don't let the whispers (or the shouts), the malicious maligning of Satan, cause your head to hang low. Don't let the effects of struggle, difficulty, the wearying trial, cause you to doubt or lose hope. Why? 

Because God is at work in this.

Pull back the curtain, open the shade, and see the truth: GOD IS FOR YOU. He is good and he is here, and he is for you. Your Redeemer lives.⁷

Scripture References

¹ Job 1:8 (God calls Job, "my servant")

² Zech 3:1 (Our adversary, Satan, stands to accuse us)

³ 2 Cor 2:11 (We are not unaware that the devil has schemes against us)

⁴ Ps 103:14 (He knows that our frame is but dust)

⁵ John 10:10 (Jesus has come to give us life abundantly)

⁶ Heb 4:15 (He understands our weaknesses)

⁷ Job 19:25-26 (Our Redeemer lives)