I should start off with that I had been led to read the entire book of Job for a personal project I was working on. It touched me… and held my attention captive that when I saw this study offered for free (the video’s) I signed up and waited patiently for it to start.
I should also mention that I listened to Lisa Harper’s book The Sacrament of Happy: What a Smiling God Brings to a Wounded World the month before that… and already knew I loved her humor and take on life. So the bible study being offered at the time it was… was actually smack on God timing!
I get the message my sweet Lord!
For those that also like to do bible studies like these… I have started following several sites that offer them for free for a short time period. This study was offered through Lifeway. You can see the studies that they have on their Blog: https://blog.lifeway.com/womenallaccess/online-bible-studies/
This is my first. My First Lisa Harper study and as I sit here I am sad I have missed the others.
So sad, that one evening while working on a homestead project I searched her on YouTube and stacked her teaching/talking video’s into a long playlist….
I am sure she wouldn’t mind that I stalked her on YouTube.
She made me laugh… cry… and dream….
I love the way she takes the bible and speaks it into a relatable context of today… Making the entire study so clear that it could have happened yesterday. I fell in love with Job… Literally felt so bad for his wife and I really want Elihu to be wearing a white hat!
To say this study touched me, just slightly, would be an understatement. Lisa made Job jump off the pages and land in my garbage/burn pile…
You think I am joking…. But I haven’t burned my trash since week 1! Poor Job! Sitting on top a pile of ash scraping his wounds with jagged pottery….. I didn’t have the heart to face the ash in my own barrel!
Till the last week.
Most of my answer’s looked like this:
The year our world literally was fallen apart. Nothing like what Job went through.. But a needless set of circumstances that didn’t have to occur, yet for some reason were allowed to. Which left me utterly broken.
I didn’t even have this study. Pretty sure she was at her cute house full of beetles writing this just for me as she swatted and swept up the bugs…. loving on her sweet Missy… Pushing her in the swing they have as they overlooked the beautiful view… Typing away and studying… getting this released just in time for me to heal enough that I could concentrate on each word. (No I didn’t google earth stalk her.. The swing pushing was actually in a video she made for her presentations!!! Geesh people!)
(I just want to hug her sweet Missy! She is so adorable!!!!)
2016/17 were a rough set of years…. One’s that need no explanation in our world. Our kids will, one day, be cleaning out our house and see 2016/17 written in prayer journals and bibles and studies… and wonder what hell actually took place.
Because Hell is what it felt like.
But Lisa said it perfectly, “The older I get, the more convinced I am that admittedly flawed sinners are the most credible witnesses of the gospel.” She wrote that in her book and she said it on YouTube. I heard her. It stopped me dead in my tracks as I replayed it…. Starring at her… with tears down my cheeks… calling out to God to please… Use me Lord!
If you have ever been through a period of time in your life when the world just doesn’t make sense… Life just seems to keep hitting you over the head and you just want to hide under the covers till it all ends… This study will help you realize that you can not only do it…But you can shine the love of God while you do. All the while why considering it a privileged to be allowed to go through such horrid times!
I am full on serious!
I clung to Job during 2016… Literally Clung.. I flung dirt (literally) while praying to God to show me how Job survived through it.. I kept the course… I never hated God.. I chanted Genisis 50:20 and John 15:18 constantly throughout my day… I trusted God and His ways… But I desired answers…
That I would never get. Till now….
My big takeaway…. What if what I am going through is actually God saving us from something worse? What if he is actually not punishing us… but saving us… what if what we are going through is actually a journey handpicked by God for us to go through to be used later…. for His good… what if we considered it a privilege????
I can honestly admit, that what we went through.. while very difficult.. was truly a privilege from God to go through. As we sit back watching the rest of it unfold we are truly seeing how He handpicked us… lifting us up out of the muck and placed us on solid ground. He removed us from devastation without a doubt.
This is the perfect study for people that have been through a trying moment.. where they felt alone, lost, or… devastated. It clearly was needed in my world and will never be forgotten.
I found it even more interesting that I signed up for this study… and 3 weeks later found out that another study was being offered for free… We will talk about that one in a coming week. Because dear friends.. I have been in 3 bible studies at once… Call me mad!!!
I was talking with my husband last night. He has been so patient with me as I have been working, devoted, to these studies and pretty sure he is gleaming jewels as they drip off of me… that he hasn’t minded me calling the dust bunnies pet’s. While all the studies coming in at the same time has been time consuming and taken me away from other chores…. It’s interesting the feeling and clarity that I have received in the process of it all. More to come on that thought….
More to come on that thought indeed.
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