-Devotion by Jeremy Martin (TN)
I’ve been married for 28 years now, and even in the depths of my dumbness (which as mentioned previously in other devotions, can run pretty deep), one of the things I learned early on in the relationship is that we hear and react to conversation differently. For the longest time this caused conflict, because when a problem is presented to me (eg, “I feel like I’m being unproductive at work”), my problem-solving skills as a man immediately kick in and I started proposing a (very helpful, in my opinion) list of solutions that would help my wife overcome the “problem” of X (in this example, being unproductive). “Oh, a problem? That’s what I do, I’m a manly man, I fix stuff! Let me give you a list of solutions.” If you’re laughing out loud right now, you’ve been there too, and know exactly where this is going.
As I presented my (again, extremely helpful) list of solutions to my wife, I could see the stormclouds gathering in her expression. When the storm burst, she would always exclaim something along the lines of “I don’t want you to fix it! I just want you to listen!”. The keyword in the beginning of her statement, that I didn’t key in on, was “I feel.”. She just wanted me to listen to, understand, and sympathize with her feelings. What I heard instead was, “here’s a problem I need your help resolving.”, which is not at all what she was saying. It’s just a social (and perhaps cultural) difference in how we’re wired as men and women. Sometimes, life is hard, and we just want a little empathy.
This sounds like exactly what was going on in the early chapters of Job. His friends are all offering an extremely helpful list of solutions (eg, “God is good to the just and only punishes the wicked, what did you do? let’s talk about it, and maybe we can fix you”…), but what Job needs is just a little bit of empathy. In our reading of Job 6-7 this morning, we can really see the stormclouds bursting as Job replies to his friends “I don’t need you to fix me, I just want you to listen!” (obviously paraphrased).
Why do bad things happen to good people? Why would God allow X to happen to this person? These are great questions, and cause a lot of people to reject God, but we know that “time and chance happen to all men” (Ecc 9:11). We also know that God tests men (James 1:3, 1 Pet 1:7), and that the reason for this testing is not only to gauge where we’re at spiritually, but to refine us and provide spiritual growth (Prov 17:3, Rom 5: 3-4). God disciplines those he loves (Heb 12:6, Rev 3:19), just like a parent disciplines their child at times, in order to correct their behavior. Here’s the thing, nobody likes to be tested. It’s usually stressful physically, mentally, and emotionally. Tests are, by their nature, testing. Here are a couple deep points to consider though: we do not advance without tests, and we usually don’t get the test results immediately. You may not even get the results in this lifetime, but keep in mind: *beeeep* this is a test, this is only a test.
In Job 7:7-8, Job laments his fleeting mortality and then asks God a question in 7:17-18: “17What is man that You magnify him, And that You set Your heart on him, 18That You examine him every morning And test him every moment?” (LSB). In v19, Job then asks “Will You never turn Your gaze away from me, ,,,” because he’s basically saying “I’m an insignificant man, why are you testing me so hard?”. Interestingly, in Psalms 8:4, David asks the same exact question: “What is man that You remember him, And the son of man that You care for him?” but when David asks it, it’s out of a devout awe of God, an awestruck attempt at understanding why God would show such favor to him, an insignificant man. So let’s think about it for a moment: what is *man? (*by man we are clearly not talking about gender, but mankind or humanity in general, more accurately).
In Genesis 1:26, God says “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, so that they will have dominion …”. (LSB, See 8/5/26 devotion on my opinion why God says “us” here, btw). So, God made us in His image so that we would have dominion on the earth. That is a much bigger deal than most people think. Consider this for a moment: rulers both ancient and recent alike put their “stamp” on things, in order to claim ownership. In ancient times, one of the first things a ruler/king/pharoah would do when they conquered a land would be to put up a statue of themselves in that place. This is just a plain statement to everyone that “This is mine!”. That’s why you’ll find all across the ancient world statues, obelisks, steles, arcs, and other various memorials. Each one makes a specific claim, each one has specific communications it’s trying to convey, but at the end of the day what they are all saying is “MINE!”. We see that even today. Modern rulers don’t go in for statues as much as they used to in ancient times, but they will paste their names on large buildings, monuments, or bridges. It’s all just a claim of ownership.
In Psalms 24:1, it says “…The earth is Yahweh’s, as well as its fullness, The world, and those who dwell in it “. Let’s consider that for a moment: everything, and everybody, on this planet belongs to God. “But what about the…” Yep. “Well, what about the…” Yep, that too. “But surely you don’t mean…” Yep. EVERYTHING, and EVERYBODY that are existing, have existed, or will exist on this planet belong to God, because He created us. If you can see it, smell it, hear it, taste it, feel it, talk to it, etc…it belongs to God. As humans, we have taken a rather proprietal view of “our stuff” and “our lives” and “our (insert anything here)” but the reality is: both we and everything that we think we own belong to God. Everybody. Everything. It all belongs to God. Full stop.
So in answer to the question “What is man, that You magnify him?”, well, God told us at the beginning. We are created in the image of God, because we are here as representatives of God, and we have been given dominion over this earth, in God’s name. We’re actually a big deal, not because we are anything more than insignificant little winds passing quickly through His marvelous creation, but because He placed us here with His image so that we could represent Him. This particular iteration of creation was created for us, and we are supposed to be representing God in it.
So as representatives of the Most High God, as human beings who have been given dominion/rulership over this beautiful creation, a good test question might be “so, how’s that working out for you?”. Unfortunately, as we look around at our society, at our dysfunctional systems, and our hardened hearts I think if we’re being honest the reply would be “Not great, Bob.“. There is coming a day though, and coming very soon unless I am greatly mistaken, when the Kingdom of God will be established here on the earth. When our king the Christ will return and cause us all to seek to represent God again, with all our hearts. When all of us who have passed our tests and pleased our God will enter as citizens of the kingdom. What is man? We are God’s representatives. Let’s act like it.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS
- Think of a test or trial in your past: when it was over, looking back, are you able to see how you had advanced or developed because of it?
- Think of a test or trial that you are currently undergoing: what do you think the intent or desired outcome of this test is?
- If you are not undergoing a test right now, consider that God tests those He loves, and ask why not and what can you do differently?
PRAYER
Father God, what is man? Help me to be the person that I was created to be. Help me to reflect and represent Your perfection here on Your creation. Please forgive me of the many times I fall short, and when I stumble please lift me up. Help me to overcome. In Jesus name, Amen.
Seek Grow Love 