Suffering; March 11, 2022

Posted on March 15, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 19:25-26 “I know that my Redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed,
yet in my flesh I will see God.”

This magnificent statement has naturally been set to music, but that very fact somewhat dampens our grasp of the level of Job’s suffering. When he talks about his skin being destroyed, (the Japanese says, “peeled off”) most of us don’t understand the level of pain involved. We don’t know the details of Job’s afflictions, but in the initial description it says that “Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.” (Job 2:8) Skin ailments can range from inconvenient to fatal, all the way from sunburn or poison ivy to melanoma, but they are certainly capable of causing a lot of discomfort to say the least. To say that Job was at his wits’ end as to how to deal with it would certainly be an understatement. It is in the middle of this suffering that he continues to pin his hopes on God. That takes faith! Sometimes we have to have everything else taken away before we really cling to God alone, and that is what happened with Job. God would not have allowed Satan to afflict him if He hadn’t known from the beginning that Job would come through. Sadly, there are some whose faith doesn’t survive even much lighter testing than what Job went through. The saddest thing about being in the Missionary Kids Facebook group is the people who have discarded whatever faith they had and are bitter and angry. Recently when I wrote about God having told me clearly that He isn’t happy with all that goes on, someone responded very bitterly that they had been “imprisoned” in such thinking for a long time but had eventually “escaped.” That isn’t escape, it’s destruction!

I certainly haven’t endured what Job did, but my biggest health issues have been with my skin. I have had three basal cell carcinomas removed, two of which involved skin grafts, but I never considered any of that to be particularly acute suffering, though there was pain involved. Right now I have an issue with my scalp that I don’t think my dermatologist has diagnosed correctly yet, but I don’t think it’s malignant and it’s not something I can’t endure. That said, as I have said to one of her doctors, my wife is something of a “department store of pain,” of various types and in various parts of her body. I am to be the support God intends me to be to her, not putting her down but standing on her behalf against the onslaughts against her. I am reminded of something my mother frequently prayed for people, that God would keep them from “unnecessary pain.” My mother had been through enough that she could understand what the Psalmist said: “It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.” (Psalm 119:71) I am not to make light of anyone’s suffering, but at the same time know that “Our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.” (2 Corinthians 4:17)

Father, suffering is a mystery. Keep me from getting hung up on it, either mine or that of anyone else, but submit everything to You, knowing that Your eventual resolution will be more than worth it all. Thank You. Praise God!

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Guarantor; March 10, 2022

Posted on March 14, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 17:3 “Give me, O God, the pledge you demand.
Who else will put up security for me?

I chose this verse to write on because I’ve long been convinced that God never asks anything of us that He doesn’t supply, but the first half of this verse is very different in the NIV and the Japanese. In Japanese it says, “Place my guarantor close to you.” That still agrees with the idea of God supplying our needs, but it’s very dif­ferent to talk about a person, guarantor, as opposed to a pledge, collateral. In either case, Job still clings to God alone. This chapter succinctly expresses Job’s disgust with his friends. The depth of his despair is expressed in verse 15: “Where then is my hope? Who can see any hope for me?” (Incidentally, the NIV and the Japanese are identical for that verse.) Going back to verse three, Job didn’t know that his Guarantor’s name was Jesus, and that He couldn’t get any closer to the Father because they were parts of the same Trinity. The whole idea of a guarantor appears several times throughout the Old Testament, but the ultimate fulfillment is, of course, Jesus. Paul expressed that several times, famously to the Galatians: “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20) Actually, he couldn’t stop talking about it! To the Corinthians he wrote, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) In Romans he talked about it a lot, but you get the picture. The whole point of the Gospel is that we need salvation but we can’t save ourselves, so God provided His Son to be our Guarantor, to take our place, so that we might be delivered from the total unworthiness of our sin and brought into eternal fellowship with Him. The more we understand it, the better that news becomes!

I have been a guarantor a few times, mostly in relation to people renting apartments without a credit history, but I had a memorable experience of needing a guarantor and it being provided. When we built this building, various unforeseen circumstances caused us to run out of money before it was completed. We hadn’t borrowed money from a bank because we thought we had enough, but that turned out not to be the case. The head of one of the companies involved in the construction told me to draw up a payment plan for each of the companies involved and present it to them, which I did. Three companies accepted my plan on the basis of my word, but the largest, to which we owed the most money, said they would agree only with a guarantor. I went to a doctor friend, and he very graciously agreed without hesitation. The construction company was impressed! I’m grateful to say that all of those payment plans were fulfilled on schedule, or even ahead of schedule, and the experience is one I’ll never forget. The thing is, that doesn’t begin to touch what Jesus did for me, and I must never forget that, either. I must never forget my eternal debt to Him, and live in joyful gratitude that He paid it all.

Father, thank You for Your incredible grace toward us Your children. Help me be an effective communicator of that grace to all I encounter, so that as many as will may repent and believe for their own salvation, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Time; March 9, 2022

Posted on March 14, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 14:14 If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.

Reading the English, I saw that there was a footnote on “renewal” that said it could be translated “release.” Then when I read the Japanese my mind was blown, because it says, “I will wait for the one who will take my place.” If the Japanese is a reasonable translation, then this is a strong foreshadowing of Jesus’ atonement on the cross. We forget that God knows the end of everything from the beginning, being outside of time, so from the moment He spoke the universe into being He knew that mankind would sin and need a Savior, and was willing to go through with that. We simply don’t have that frame of reference. I really think that the closer we come to grasping that, the more peace we will have. Instead, we tend to get all uptight about what is happening when, as though we were somehow in control. We are accountable for how we respond to what we experience, and our actions certainly affect our outcomes, but we are not in control, because we are in the flow of time. Sometimes that flow seems like a gentle stream, and sometimes it feels like a waterfall or a tsunami! Job had the right idea, that we’ve got to wait to see how things will turn out, but at the same time, those who are in Christ have the hope and assurance that the final outcome will be glorious. God has been telling us that throughout history, (Jeremiah 29:11) but few have really had the faith to accept it. Like the father of the epileptic boy, we cry out, “I do believe! Help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24)

Like everyone, I think, I am a bundle of contradictions. I am in general a fairly patient person, but I have times of severe impatience. I know that I am on earth to relate to others, yet I can at times be very jealous of my time. The longer I live, the more I am aware of both my impotence and the consequences of my actions. I’m not in control, but what I do matters. Several years ago the Lord very graciously told me to rest, relax, and rejoice. I’m still learning to do that! At times I feel like my labors have been in vain, but at other times I discover that something I did, that I perhaps don’t even remember, had a huge beneficial effect on someone. God alone is the Judge! Unlike Job, I know that this body dying is just the beginning of my eternity, so I don’t need to be anxious about that. Actually, Job’s faith is all the more admirable because he had so much less information to go on. Like Paul, I need to be assured of Whom I have believed, and walk in faith and hope. (2 Timothy 1:12)

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed release my time to You, spending it doing Your will on Your schedule, for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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Waiting in Hope; March 8, 2022

Posted on March 13, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 13:15 “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.”

This is rightly one of the most famous verses in the Book of Job. It is a declaration of absolute faith and trust in God, not only that He is but that He is righteous and fair and just. Job has too much assurance of his own innocence for my taste, but I don’t want to be like one of his three friends! This verse is another example of a phrase that occurs often in the Old Testament that is translated consistently in Japanese but not so consistently in English. I have a friend who got his doctorate in Hebrew, and he says that the Hebrew word indeed is close to the Japanese. Here the NIV says “hope,” but in various other places it uses “wait.” The Japanese expression is, “wait in hope.” It is entirely possible to wait in resignation, and it is possible to hope impatiently. Job would be very happy if God were to resolve his situation instantly, but that in itself is not part of his hope. His hope is rather in the character of God, who will not be false to Himself. I think we all have moments of impatience, and we all have times when our hope is a bit wobbly. Job is our example here, not knowing when the situation will be resolved but trusting in God even at the cost of his life, if need be. In a sense, this is the heart of a martyr, and we can all learn from it.

I have certainly had my moments of impatience, and I have had times when hope seemed too dim. However, I had the example of my parents, who trusted God in pre-war Japan, in a period of my mother being in the US with my oldest sister while my father was interned in Japan, in dealing with prejudice and red tape while they ministered in Relocation Centers in the US for the rest of the war, ministering in Hawaii after VJ Day until they were allowed to return to Japan, and then ministering in post-war Japan. I didn’t arrive until after their return to Japan, but that was who my parents were and what they were made of. I learned from them to wait in hope! Even so, on at least one occasion my father prostrated himself on the floor and cried out, “God, if I’m standing in the way of revival in Japan, then take me out of the way!” He had visited the Shantung Revival in China before WW2, and he knew what revival looked like. When he visited, he didn’t know that God was preparing Chinese believers for the war and then for the Communists. As he dealt with the slow “rate of return” in Japan, he had to realize that he couldn’t see the future, so he had to trust God with it. Exactly the same thing applies to me. I too want to see an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in Japan, but I have got to wait in hope, because I certainly can’t make it happen on my schedule. What I can do, however, is to keep myself available for however God wants to use me in what He is doing, for His glory.

Father, thank You for all that You are doing. Help me indeed wait in hope on You, knowing that Your plans are always good, (Jeremiah 29:11) and not trying to dictate to You when and how they are to take place. Thank You. Praise God!

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Knowledge; March 7, 2022

Posted on March 9, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 11:7 “Can you fathom the mysteries of God?
Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?”

Zophar is now the third of Job’s friends to speak, but he too speaks only rhetorical questions, platitudes, and truisms, all couched in terms that put Job down. The interesting thing about this particular rhetorical question is that there are some today who are so blind in their hubris that they would answer, “Yes, we can.” This is the cult of “Science,” that actually worships man. Genuine scientists know that the essence of science is questions, always seeking to know more while recognizing the limits of what is known. Recently “the science is settled” has been heard frequently, when that is a contradiction in terms. It is fascinating to see how many times, and often how quickly, such assertions are shown to be totally false. Einstein is widely recognized as one of the greatest scientific minds, and he said something along the lines of, “The greatest foolishness is asserting that there is no Creator.” Zophar’s question, though intended to put Job down, at least acknowledged the Creator. God does give us the privilege of investigating and discovering things about His creation, but we’ve got to remember that He is by definition infinite, and since we are finite, we quickly run into our own limits. In His grace He does reveal things to us that we could not discern on our own. That’s why Paul speaks frequently of “mysteries.” After all, who would have dreamed that the Creator would send His Son to die for the sins of mankind? Proper living requires a fundamental humility and openness to learning. It’s not at all that we can’t know things positively, but we need to recognize that there are limits to our knowing, and be at peace with that.

I have an enormous curiosity, for which I am grateful. At the same time, I recognize that I don’t even know what I don’t know, and I’m grateful for that as well. I’m convinced that there is no limit to learning, and that is a huge blessing. Arriving in heaven is going to be an explosion of learning! Because of my curiosity I have quite a library of stored knowledge, but I must not let that puff me up, as Paul pointed out. (1 Corinthians 8:1) Rather, in gratitude to God I am to use that knowledge in love, allowing God to correct errors along the way. I am never to put people down the way Job’s friends did, but rather encourage them with what I have learned of God’s grace and mercy. He has taught me that none of His gifts are for the direct recipient alone, but are always to bless those around, in an ever-expanding series of “ripples,” for His glory. As my father pointed out in his final letter to the family before the surgery that took him home, God’s plans for any individual will always mesh perfectly with His plans for everyone else. My goal should always be to follow those plans so that I will indeed mesh as He desires and intends, for His glory.

Father, thank You for Your grace and mercy. Thank You for the gift of knowledge, and for awareness that what we have is incomplete. Help me continue to know You better, making that my first priority, so that everything else will fall into place as You intend, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Secure Hope; March 6, 2022

Posted on March 8, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 8:13 Such is the destiny of all who forget God; so perishes the hope of the godless.

If Eliphaz was not a good friend to Job, Bildad was worse. However, he too speaks some truth, even if it’s misapplied. I’m sure Job was so blessed when Bildad accused his children! (verse 4) NOT! The statement in this verse, though not always obvious, is actually quite true. We see people who ignore God seem to prosper greatly, as is noted in several places in the Bible, but their ultimate destiny is worse than empty. A particular example that has recently come to my attention is Bill Gates. At one point he was officially “The richest man on the planet,” but his personal life has been a wreck. It seems he has been predatory toward every attractive woman he has encountered, and it looks like he is deeply entwined with the “New World Order” mess. I would hate to have that on my resume when I stand before God! There is great danger in this world’s “success,” because it has a strong tendency to distract us from our Creator. Right now the whole world is reeling from the delusions of Vladimir Putin, and I could go on and on naming person after person, but I would be no better than Bildad here if I did that. The point isn’t to go accusing others and feeling righteous for doing so, but rather to check our own attitudes and be humble before God. One of the big themes of the Bible, and certainly of Job, is that material things are ephemeral and God is eternal. When we place our hope on the material, it indeed fades to nothing.

I’ve never been what any Westerner would categorize as rich, but compared to the average person in Afghanistan, for example, I’m a plutocrat. Regardless, I’ve been distracted by the things of this world just as everyone is at times. I too need to be careful with my focus, and specifically, where I place my hope. As I quoted back on the 1st, it’s like the hymn says: “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.” That’s an absolutely secure hope that cannot be shaken! My ultimate hope is indeed eternity with my Lord, but I need to let Him show me what shorter-term goals He has for me, what things I’m to hope for in this life. I do know that a major goal and hope is the salvation of the Japanese people, but that is clearly not something I can accomplish on my own. I’ve got to be careful that my hope isn’t fixated on specific numbers, but on my Lord who loves this nation even more than I do. As I pray, I need to keep myself available and responsive to God as a tool for Him to use in answering those prayers, so that indeed His name may be acknowledged as holy and His rule and authority be established as His will is done perfectly, for His glory.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Help me indeed keep my hope in You, being aware of and obedient to You at all times, for Your pleasure and glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Depending on God; March 5, 2022

Posted on March 8, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 6:13 “Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?

Sometimes the kindest thing God can do for us is help us understand how utterly helpless we are without Him. Job’s redeeming characteristic was that he never let go of God in all his suffering. When things are going well it is all too easy to think we can go it alone, when that is a literal impossibility. Job, on the other hand, refuses to deny God, as he states in verse 10, but he is pretty disappointed in his friends, as he states right after this. I think God deprived Job of genuinely commiserating friends precisely to teach him to cling to God alone. There is a beautiful song that states, “In Christ alone I place my trust.” That’s not hard to say, but it can be hard to live by. We like to depend on things we can see and feel physically, when Paul reminds us, “We live by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7) “So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.” (2 Corinthians 4:18) Job was stripped of everything he could see, so that he could indeed cling to his unseen Lord.

I too am thoroughly tempted to rely on the physical world, and I hope I don’t succumb to that to the point of needing Job’s treatment! I am regularly distracted by things that are entirely temporary, and that’s not good. I’m not to ignore the world I live in but rather be a good steward of it, but at the same time I’ve got to remember that everything physical, whether good or bad, is no more than momentary. I tell this to others, but I’ve got to remember that on my own I don’t have the power even to draw a single breath. I’m not confined to a machine to do that for me, as some are for medical reasons, but every bit of strength I have is a gift of God’s grace. I’m not to discount the various things that God has placed at my disposal, but rather remember that I am accountable for them to God who gave them to me. My body, my mind, my faculties, my senses, my possessions, are all on loan to me, rather than ultimately mine. If the actual Owner chooses to withdraw any or all of them, I have no legitimate reason to complain. God has been incredibly gracious to me, and the better I remember that, the more peace and joy I will have as I live in obedience to Him.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Thank You for yesterday and all it held. There were blessings and there were frustrations. Thank You for all You have planned for today, though I certainly don’t know the details yet. May I indeed rest, relax, and rejoice in You, just as You have told me to do, so that resentment will have no room at all, and I will flow with Your Spirit on Your schedule for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Speaking Truth; March 4, 2022

Posted on March 6, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 5:17-18 “Blessed is the man whom God corrects;
so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
For he wounds, but he also binds up;
he injures, but his hands also heal.

We are back to the paradox of the Book of Job. Eliphaz is here speaking truth that is repeated multiple times in the Bible, notably in Hebrews 12, yet 42:7 is specifically addressed to him, saying that he has not spoken of God what is right. I think the problem was that he was speaking truisms from an attitude of holier-than-thou, rather than being humble before God and coming alongside Job in his suffering. It’s pretty easy to spout truth, quoting either the Bible or any of a number of wise people, but speaking God’s truth in the specific situation is a different matter. This should be a huge cautionary note for any “professional Christian,” someone who is academically trained but may or may not be in right relationship with God himself. The irony is that God can speak even through such people. After all, He spoke through Caiaphas, who was actively involved in getting Jesus crucified! (John 11:49-52) We can speak truth and have it do us no good, if we fail to allow it to pass through and change our own heart.

This is something I’m sharply aware of for myself. I first read through the Bible by the time I was 10, but I’m still convicted by it 63 years later. I continue to feel that James 1:22 was written expressly for me! I am often in situations of speaking truth to others in various contexts, but I must always do so in full humility, never talking down to them as Eliphaz did to Job. I am to be grateful for all that God has taught me and not discount it in any way, but at the same time not think that knowing those things makes me better than others. As Paul so accurately said, “Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up.” (1 Corinthians 8:1) He famously expanded on that later in that same letter, saying that everything is meaningless without love. (1 Corinthians 13) I’ve got to be careful that I’m motivated by the love of God, and not by a prideful desire to “set people right.” That last can be a real temptation, particularly when people spout off politically correct foolishness. As C. S. Lewis so wisely said, one thing we can be sure of about heaven is that when we get there, we will discover we were all wrong about something. I need to operate in love and humility, while still keeping hold of the truth that God has written on my heart.

Father, thank You for this reminder. Yesterday I was asked to write an article for a national prayer newsletter, and I feel very inadequate. I ask for Your clear guidance and anointing, because the last thing I want to do is write out of my own head. May the words I record be what You want to say to the believers in this nation, drawing them into line with Your perfect plan and opening the door for Your Spirit to sweep over us all, for the salvation of multitudes and for Your glory. Thank You. Hallelujah!

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The Book of Job; March 3, 2022

Posted on March 6, 2022 by jgarrott

Job 4:6 “Should not your piety be your confidence and your blameless ways your hope?”

I’ve never particularly cared for the Book of Job, largely because so much of it is made up of statements by Job’s friends, whom God explicitly says don’t know Him rightly. (Job 42:7) I mean, why read error? However, because the word “hope” comes up repeatedly in the book, particularly in what is said by Job’s friends, I’ve got 10 days to let God show me new things about the book, and I think He’s started doing that. Eliphaz is stating “conventional wisdom,” which seems very reasonable on the face of it. However, from God’s viewpoint human wisdom is full of holes, and this is a good example. This is following the thinking exemplified in the song from The Sound of Music, “I Must Have Done Something Good.” We like to take credit for the good things in our lives, and in the process we deny God’s grace. That is very dangerous indeed. Various places in the Bible assert the fundamental truth that “all have sinned.” (Romans 3:23) If we try to stand in our own piety we are on very shaky ground indeed! That’s precisely why the devil likes to encourage that kind of thinking. Right after this Eliphaz states something that is clearly not true, that the innocent never have problems. Jesus Himself said otherwise! (John 16:33) He goes on to recount a seemingly supernatural experience, and it sounds to me like he had a visit from the devil. (verses 12-21) Verse 18 in particular seems that way to me: “he charges his angels with error.” The devil is an angel who succumbed to pride, so he tries to pull mankind down with him. The message of Job is not to trust our own piety or “blameless ways,” but rather God’s grace and mercy. That’s where real hope lies, that will not disappoint. (Romans 5:5)

I am grateful to have been raised in a framework of accountability, where sin and guilt were to be acknowledged and repented of, rather than in the current fad of never making children feel bad about themselves. The fact is, we do bad stuff, and we also have to suffer the consequences of the bad stuff other people do. That’s an inescapable reality, so I’ve got to keep my focus on the only human being who ever got it all right, my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (Hebrews 12:2) The minute I put my hope in what I do or have done I’m setting myself up for a fall. I am to recognize my total dependence on the grace of God, not at all to excuse disobedience but rather to recognize that my Lord is far greater than my failures. I am to repent of sin the moment I recognize it, but also know that God is truly faithful to forgive confessed sin and cleanse me from it. (1 John 1:9) In other words, I’m not to drag around guilt from past sin, because when God puts it under the blood of Jesus it’s gone, period. (2 Peter 1:9) I cannot have confidence in my own righteousness, but I can have total confidence in the righteousness of Christ that has been imparted to me by the grace of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21) That’s an essential part of the Gospel, and I am to communicate it to all who will receive it.

Father, thank You for blessing me from one of the “inaccurate” parts of the Book of Job! Help me indeed learn from everything You bring my way, so that I will keep growing as Your child and Your servant, for Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!

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Giving; March 2, 2022

Posted on March 5, 2022 by jgarrott

1 Chronicles 29:14 “But who am I, and who are my people, that we should be able to give as generously as this? Everything comes from you, and we have given you only what comes from your hand.”

As was common for kings of the era, David was fabulously wealthy, but he managed to maintain the perspective that it all came from God and thus belonged to Him. Here, he is rejoicing that he is able to give so much toward the building of the temple. It really does feel good to be able to give. Paul quoted Jesus as having said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35) Our flesh doesn’t want to acknowledge that, but it is certainly true. However, until we get a real understanding that everything is based on grace, we have trouble believing it. There is immensely more satisfaction in being able to bless others out of the fruit of your own labors than in “sucking on the government teat,” as the saying goes. That definitely applies to giving back to God as well. It’s amazing to me how many people think they are being “noble” in putting $10 (or the equivalent of ￥1000) in the plate at church whenever they show up, when the Bible tells us a tenth of all our income is an appropriate sign that we know where it all comes from. This isn’t compulsion. That would be a tax, not an offering. As Paul also noted, “God loves a cheerful giver.” (2 Corinthians 9:7) That applies whether we are giving to God or to our neighbor. Like David, we should rejoice that God has so provided as to enable us to give.

I was taught to tithe as a small child. My allowance was 100 yen a week, back when it was 360 yen to the dollar, and I was taught to give 10 yen every Sunday. Also, at Christmas nothing was “from Santa,” but rather from specific people, and we opened gifts one at a time. I still remember getting a bigger thrill out of watching the mem­bers of my family open the gifts I had chosen for them, than in opening what had been given to me. As a young adult I got away from tithing, but around the time our second daughter was born we felt strongly we were to get back to tithing, even though we were actually quite poor, and God responded by multiplying our finances. Now, though we still don’t have enough income to have to pay taxes on it, it gives us great satisfaction to be able to give 15%. God is indeed our supply, and there is great joy and blessing both in giving back to Him and in giving to others.

Father, thank You for Your grace on so many levels. Thank You not only for meeting our needs, but also for teaching us the joy of giving. I do ask for wisdom in giving, that everything You place in my hands may accomplish what You intend for it, for Your glory alone. Thank You. Praise God!

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