Longing

What do you long for? What do you desire? What hope resonates within you?

In the midst of devastation, Job never lost his ability to hope. That hope birthed longing.

Job longed for vindication. He wanted somebody to realize that he was not suffering because of the guilt of his own sin. He wanted God to come to his defense and say to his accusers, “You have it all wrong! Job is my choice servant. He has done nothing wrong.” But friends turned into accusers. Judgment seemed to be pronounced. Yet Job longed for God.

Job longed for mediation. God seemed to ignore Job’s pleas for help. He wanted somebody to talk to God for Him. Faith in God assured Job that a potential mediator existed. He proclaimed, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth” (Job 19:25). But where was He now? Where was the Divine Mediator in the midst of Job’s disaster and disease?

Job longed for protection. All had turned against him. Perhaps, God Himself. He needed a shield, an advocate, a protector. Instead, he faced cruel attacks upon his righteous character, with no apparent protector to shield him from the assaulting blows.

Job longed for communication. He desperately needed to hear from God. The heavens seemed as brass. The God of his hope seemed inaccessible. Unavailable. Absent.

But Job persisted in his longing for God. Job refused to allow hope to die.

• “I would present my case before Him” (Job 23:4).
• “But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10).
• “Let me be weighed on honest scales, that God may know my integrity” (Job 31:6).

All the while, God was listening and interceding. When God intervened, He fulfilled the hope of Job’s longing with vindication, mediation, protection, and communication. Restoration. Relationship. God with man.

Longing.

What is the devastation you suffer today? Remember to hope. Stir longing within your heart. Reach to God. Long for Him.