Streams in the Desert - Apr 22
by L. B. E. Cowman and Jim Reimann
He knows the way that I take. (Job 23: 10)
O believer, what a glorious assurance this verse is! What confidence I have because “the way that I take”— this way of trials and tears, however winding, hidden, or tangled—“ He knows”! When the “furnace [is] heated seven times hotter than usual” (Dan. 3: 19), I can know He still lights my way. There is an almighty Guide who knows and directs my steps, whether they lead to the bitter water at the well of Marah or to the joy and refreshment of the oasis at Elim (see Ex. 15: 23, 27).
The way is dark to the Egyptians yet has its own pillar of cloud and fire for God’s Israel. The furnace may be hot, but not only can I trust the hand that lights the fire, I can also have the assurance the fire will not consume but only refine. And when the refining process is complete, not a moment too soon or too late, “I will come forth as gold” (Job 23: 10).
When I feel God is the farthest away, He is often the nearest to me. “When my spirit grows faint within me, it is you who know my way” (Ps. 142: 3). Do we know of another who shines brighter than the most radiant sunlight, who meets us in our room with the first waking light, who has an infinitely tender and compassionate watchfulness over us throughout our day, and who “knows the way that [we] take”?
The world, during a time of adversity, speaks of “providence” with a total lack of understanding. They dethrone God, who is the living, guiding Sovereign of the universe, to some inanimate, dead abstraction. What they call “providence” they see as occurrences of fate, reducing God from His position as our acting, powerful, and personal Jehovah.
The pain would be removed from many an agonizing trial if only I could see what Job saw during his time of severe affliction, when all earthly hope lay dashed at his feet. He saw nothing but the hand of God— God’s hand behind the swords of the Sabeans who attacked his servants and cattle, and behind the devastating lightning; God’s hand giving wings to the mighty desert winds, which swept away his children; and God’s hand in the dreadful silence of his shattered home.
Thus, seeing God in everything, Job could say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1: 21). Yet his faith reached its zenith when this once-powerful prince of the desert “sat among the ashes” (Job 2: 8) and still could say, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him” (Job 13: 15).
~J. R. Macduff
Reference
Cowman, L. B. E.; Reimann, Jim (2008-09-09). Streams in the Desert: 366 Daily Devotional Readings (pp. 166-167). Zondervan. Kindle Edition.
Categories: spiritual