Mar 19 Devotion: The Almighty

Job 40:2 Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it.

         The book of Job uses the compound name for God, the Almighty God, (El-Shaddai) more than any other book of the Bible. Knowing the situation with Job and all that befell him, it is easy to see why. Job went through a time that would qualify as unprecedented. He lost his wealth, health, and children all in a short period of time. It was one thing after another thing. It was something that could not be understood by those that were going through it. We have the book and know what went on between God and Satan, but Job, his wife, and friends were not privy to that revelation. To them, it seemed as if the whole world suddenly fell apart around them. Why? This would be a legitimate question to ask. They did not know.

         To outline the book, we see the calamity at the beginning, the counsel of Job’s

friends, Job’s responses, the declaration of who God is by God, and the ending restoration. It was an extremely difficult time for all involved. I believe it would be fair to say that it was an impossible situation, humanly speaking. How can you live through such tragedy? Let’s not point the finger at Job’s wife so quickly. She lost much of what Job lost, and she is a mother with a different way of emotionally processing events. His friends concluded that it must be sin in Job to cause God to bring about what they considered to be a judgment. (They did not know it was a test allowed by God.) Their opinion was wrong, but it was based on perceptual logic. Whatever the thoughts concerning the circumstances by all involved, it was an impossible situation.

         Now, we come to the interesting fact that the name of God used so often in this book is the Almighty God. The one that is needed to overcome such an insurmountable scenario must be almighty. This speaks of God’s ability to do the impossible. To make all this situation turn out for good and God’s glory, it would take an Almighty God to do it. When the entire story ends, Job had more than when he began. The devil had been defeated, the friends had been corrected, and Job had a greater understanding of God. This could not be the outcome if God had not done miraculous things.  

         What are you dealing with? Everyone has difficulties in life, and we all need the Almighty God to intervene for our good and his glory. Seek him first and submit to his will. Our faith in him must overcome our fear of life’s situations. He, and he alone, can do “exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us”. (Ephesians 3:20) Job’s life is a great illustration of how God can fulfill Romans 8:28.

Romans 8:28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

In Christ’s Service,

Bro. Adrian Moore

2 Cor. 4:5