I will teach you about the power of God; the ways of the Almighty I will not conceal. – Job 27:11

Today’s Scripture Reading (April 6, 2012): Job 27

Do you know where you were on May 2, 2011? I have to admit that, other than that I have someone in my life I care about that celebrates a birthday every year on May 2, it is not a day that sticks in my memory. But what happened on that day, I remember. If you give me the event, then I remember the day. On May 2, 2011, a Special Forces military unit stormed a compound in Abottabad, Pakistan. It was on that day that that military unit stepped into history as they took down Osama Bin Laden.

Yesterday (in a post on Job 25:6) I said that I believed in the value of every person. And, invariably the push back is to point at someone who has done extraordinary evil. For those of us who dwell in the Western World, evil is found in somebody like Bin Laden. And the question that we ask is “how can there be value in him?” But there is. I still believe that there is value in all of us. The question is not if there is value, but rather, do we make the most of the value that God has placed inside of us. What I remember most about May 2, 2011 is that on that day I mourned the waste of a life that was very valuable to God.

I have often wondered why we call today Good Friday. There just seems to be so little that is good about the day. But it is what it is. It is on this day that we celebrate the death of Jesus Christ. I struggle with the word celebrate because it almost makes it sound like the emotions crowd that gathers around a jail house as a convicted criminal is about to be executed – or being part of the news that slowly leaked out about the events that happened on May 2, 2011.

But the events of Good Friday did not involve a wasted life. On Good Friday, God’s purpose was accomplished. And that is part of the mystery.  It was mystery that Job seemed to understand. Even in the worst circumstances, God somehow completes what he intends to do. And in Job’s final speech, he admits that even though his life isn’t going the way that he expected it to, God’s power still can’t be hidden.

And he’s right. Sometimes I wish I could see all of the events in this world the way that he sees it. But today I recognize his purpose,so even on this Friday, I can still call it Good.

   

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 28