Mon., 2/29/16 Devotion (Job 29:2, 5a)

Today's encouragement comes from Job's words from Job 29:2 & 5a, which says this:

"Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God watched over me . . . When the Almighty was yet with me . . . "

Job's words (above) are typical of us, when we do not sense Christ's pres-ence, or when we are undergoing God's temporary felt "desertion" of us (even His children). When this emptiness comes upon us, we—just like Job—long for the "old days," when God was "yet with [us]." This is natural, and to be expected.

But the reality was that God had *never* taken His loving eye off of Job, not even for a moment. As a matter of fact, it could be said that the Lord was *just as much with* Job through his sufferings, and his sensations of isolation, as He was when Job prospered. Therefore, let us Christian churchmen take heart. Even if we do not *feel* our Savior's presence—this in no way means that He has abandoned us.

[Puritan quote of the day: "If we deserved God's love, we would not value it so highly.” —John Owen, in, "Communion with God"]