Day 4: Job 1-5

Job 3

I've been told that all babies go to heaven.  I think this following passage is relevant:

Job says, "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? 12 Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? 13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest 14 with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, 15 with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver."

Job had conversations and a relationship with God.  He wouldn't have said such words if he hadn't known for a fact that babies go to heaven regardless of whether they've had the chance to accept God as their Savior.  I'll go more into this later when I read passages about this topic.

ANYWAY, I like these lines the best:

Job 3:6-8 "...hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward. But if I were you, I would appeal to God; I would lay my cause before him."

I know better than anyone that God can do the impossible.  If you want something deeply, just ask God for it.  He WANTS to do everything and anything to make you happy and care for you.  If it's ultimately the best for you, you will receive it.  And if it's not, God will protect you from it.  It's as simple than that.  [Recently, I was advised to pray for SPECIFIC things, not just broad topics and desires]

God may provide great things, but not to ruin you by spoiling you.  God may bring you harm or allow it to happen to you, but from the struggles you grow.  Love and fear for God are both key to understanding and choosing to obey God.

This is my understanding of my loving God.

However, I do wonder WHY Job feared God before all the hardships in chapters 1-2.  Peter posed this question.  I realize that Job must have held God in awe, but is that related to his fear of Him?  Is the meaning of fear in regards to Job and his relationship to God synonymous to terror?  There are different kinds of fear, so which one does this reference?

At the same time, I acknowledge that there are MANY, MANY, MANY more reasons to fear God than to not fear him.  Love God with all of your strength, but fear him even more and you will reap rewards.  Proverbs 9:10 says "The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom..."