Job 28

20 "Where then does wisdom come from?
Where does understanding dwell?

21 It is hidden from the eyes of every living thing,
concealed even from the birds of the air.

22 Destruction and Death say,
'Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.'

23 God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,

24 for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.

25 When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,

26 when he made a decree for the rain
and a path for the thunderstorm,

27 then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.

28 And he said to man,
'The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.' "


Dear friends and family,

I start off this letter with the verses above because I believe we can confidently walk with Him who is wise and knows all things. We worship God simply because He is God and not for what he provides. To accord Him the glory is more important than wishing for anything.

Praise God today the ultrasound scan was all normal! Doctors have reduced the ultrasound scans from weekly to fortnightly! We give God all the glory and honour because without Him, last week would have been tough to get through. So thank you for all your prayers and encouragement that has been flooding through our mailboxes. I’m sorry if I haven’t got to some of you yet – I will do my best to reply!

Today, I don’t want to talk about the baby. Instead, here’s what I learned from the book of Job over the past 2 days. If you are interested, read on!

Best friend June invited me to 2 evenings on expositions from the book of Job under Project Timothy at ORPC (Orchard Rd Presbyterian church). I love the answers presented by Christopher Ash, Director of the Cornhill Training Centre, UK.

1. Does Jesus want you to be rich (and healthy, successful and powerful)?

- Most certainly, but probably NOT YET. In this world, yours and my faith will be tested, and refined like gold. Our reward is certainly in heaven.

2. The mark of a true believer : Everything is stripped away but still trusts in God.

3. A believer can be terribly alone in suffering because only he/she knows what it feels like.

4. The search for wisdom is costly because this is a valuable and inaccessible object. So stop looking for it with our limited human minds. Instead we must confidently walk with Him who knows all things; thus we will be wise.

5. God is God. We are not. God is all-mighty; he did everything in creation, controls the wild animals and beasts. We are unworthy to question Him.

6. So our sovereign faithfulness should be to God; even in our darkest moments. Likewise, we cannot deal and overcome evil in this world alone, we need God.

7. UNDESERVED suffering DOES exist. Of course, sometimes we suffer the consequences of our own sin, thus we search our hearts to see where suffering comes from. However, Christianity is not about ‘karma’ – ie. Suffering happens to bad people (that’s what Job’s friends said). Just remember our reward is in heaven.

Correct me if I'm wrong, for I know this is all rather simplistic and you’ll probably have many questions and bombard me with different levels of argument. Despite this, I want to let you know I found comfort in the reminder that God knows all things and sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan it to.
I leave here with a hymn that touched me yesterday, for I know that God is with us.

It Is Well with My Soul

1. When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

when sorrows like sea billows roll;

whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say,

It is well, it is well with my soul.

Refrain:

It is well with my soul,

it is well, it is well with my soul.



2. Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come,

let this blest assurance control,

that Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

and hath shed his own blood for my soul.

(Refrain)



3. My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

(Refrain)



4. And, Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

the clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

the trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

even so, it is well with my soul.

(Refrain)



With love,

Marcus and Charlene