I heard of Thee but now I have seen

"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes" Job 42:5-6

Job was a man of God who served Him faithfully with his family. God was proud of him and boasted with him before the devil and that became the beginning of Job's troubles. Problems he never bargained for ensued because God wanted to prove a point to Satan - 'My servant, Job is perfect, upright, God-fearing and righteous'. One amazing thing is that God was the One that raised the matter and not Satan.

God was right! Job went through his ordeal faithfully. He had his ups and downs but he prevailed. He stood strong and withstood all the devil's arrows to break his faith. God won because His servant remained faithful and He was proved right. The devil lost totally.

However, there is an amazing thing that troubles of Job produced in his life and that is our focus. At the end of the trials, he was not just better because he had double blessings, his revelation of God changed. He saw God. "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee". Thank God for the troubles that draw men closer to God.Because he saw God, he was equally able to see himself through God's perspective. He saw his sin and self righteousness. He repented and abhorred himself.

For many, their good name and 'image', titles and 'trophies' etc are still relevant to them because they have not seen the Lord. People are still on the throne of their lives because, though they have been in church for years, they have only been hearing about God but have not seen and experienced Him. If you see God, you will have no option than to bow and worship. People make issues and hinder God's work because of their pride and self centeredness.

The question is, have I experienced God? The revelation of God I have, is it by hearsay or a personal encounter with God? God bless!

The dire need for workers

“When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.” Matt.9:36 NIV

There is always this challenge whereby God will be looking for men in the midst of men. He will be looking for leaders in the midst of leaders and workers in the midst of workers. In Ezekiel 22:30, God said, “I looked for someone who might rebuild the wall of righteousness that guards the land. I searched for someone to stand in the gap in the wall so I wouldn’t have to destroy the land, but I found no one” NLT. Before this conclusion, from verse 24-29, He listed some of His discoveries in the course of His search for a man.

From our text, the Lord Jesus Christ “felt great pity” for the people who had many problems and were scattered and didn’t know what to do or where to go to for help. They were like sheep without shepherds. The interesting thing here is that this was happening at a time when there were “shepherds” in the land – teachers of the law, college of priests, the Sanhedrin, scribes and other interpreters of the law.

For us today, the situation is not really different. The condition of the sheep has not changed and God is still looking for shepherds. There are many reasons, more of distractions, why there will be men around and yet God will still be looking for someone. However, the pertinent challenge is personal. Will I make myself available for God? Will I be willing to make adjustments, even costly ones – a significant shift from my self centeredness, and allow God to use me?