Today I read Job 28 and 29, which is the middle of Job’s last speech. Job says you can find other things but not wisdom because it comes from God. Job then talks about the good old days. Today I considered that God gives us wisdom and it’s normal to think about the good old days but don’t dwell in that thought for long.
Finding Wisdom
We know how to find precious metals and gems and even bread but no man dead or alive and find wisdom (Job 28:1-28). Miners go into earth’s depths, into the darkness, hammering the earth, to get silver, gold, iron, ore, and sapphires. Earth’s surface is where we grow bread with birds and lions cubs not aware of what miners are doing. But when people look for wisdom they can’t find it and can’t buy it. You can try looking in the depths or up high or even spend the most your precious gems and metals trying to get it. God is the only way to wisdom through the fear of the Lord.
Job’s Good Old Days
Job talks about the good old days when he felt blessed and was treated as a leader (Job 29:1-25). Job says he misses the good old days when things were easy, God was with him, and his children were there. When Job used to go out the young, the old, princes, and even nobles respected and honored him. Everyone used to listen to him. Job helped the poor, fatherless, blind, and lame. Job even stopped the wicked. He expected to die old and in comfort. People used to follow his lead.
Questions and Thoughts for Today
Every good thing comes from God including wisdom. We can try to take classes, buy books, pay tutors, and purchase cliff notes but to truly understand and apply information turn to God. God can bring you understanding in a chaotic situation, direction when you are lost, and remembrance when you have forgotten. God is the creator and distributor of wisdom.
When have you continued to fail a test or been unable to find something but as soon as you prayed to God you passed the test or found the missing item?
Everyone thinks about the past and their good old days. Parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins, and friends reminisce about how life used to be versus how life is today. This is normal. We can think on the past but remember not to dwell there long because we live in the present and have to prepare for the future. The past is gone and we can’t go back but we can go forward. “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland” (Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV).
What can you do today to move beyond your past and toward your future?