Sermon 27, Job 7:1-6
Job wonders when he will die. Job wants to die. Job thinks his life, maybe all lives, are just a painful waste of time spent waiting for rest.
In today’s sermon Calvin teaches us that “our allotted time is not set according to our pleasure but that it is God who ordains it according as he knows it to be good”.
Life is short. But, this sermon remarks that, we only say that when things are going well. When things aren’t going well, time passes more slowly and we get impatient. I’m going to work with AI today and see whether I can estimate my lifespan from my ancestors death certificates, haha!
I think what has really got me in this sermon is the notion that a) God does actually love me. I feel that this morning and it’s nice. But b) my relationship with Hod is not one of equals. Not even close. God literally controls when I will die. Not on my terms, His terms. Going further, everything that seemingly bad happens to me, is from God. Everything. Let that sink in! God does afflict me, currently in minor ways and maybe, in the future, in major ways. God wants me to struggle. God doesn’t want me to rest easy. God is so much bigger than me. I can’t understand his ways. But, I know He loves me like a father.
Here are some great quotes:
“If we imagine that God is our enemy and is persecuting us, calling upon him is a disappointing waste of time.”
“…let us realize God could deal more harshly than he does…”
“So let us learn to walk humbly and pray to God that we will find good whatever he brings to pass and that we will be able to accept it and say…”. (See p. 329).