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Morning and Evening

November 19, Evening

C. H. Spurgeon · Modern retelling

"O that I knew where I might find Him!" — Job 23:3 · KJV

In Job's uttermost extremity he cried after the Lord. The longing desire of an afflicted child of God is to see his Father's face once more. His first prayer is not, "Oh that I might be healed of the disease that now festers in every part of my body!" nor even, "Oh that I might see my children restored from the jaws of the grave, and my property brought back from the hand of the spoiler!" but the first and uppermost cry is, "Oh that I knew where I might find HIM who is my God, that I might come even to His seat!" God's children run home when the storm comes on. It is the heaven-born instinct of a gracious soul to seek shelter from all ills beneath the wings of Yahweh. "He that hath made his refuge God" might serve as the title of a true believer. A hypocrite, when afflicted by God, resents the blow, and, like a slave, would run from the Master who has scourged him; but not so the true heir of heaven — he kisses the hand that smote him, and seeks shelter from the rod in the bosom of the God who frowned on him. Job's desire to commune with God was intensified by the failure of all other sources of comfort. The patriarch turned away from his sorry friends and looked up to the heavenly throne, just as a traveler turns from his empty waterskin and hurries with all speed to the well. He bids farewell to earth-born hopes and cries, "Oh that I knew where I might find my God!" Nothing teaches us the preciousness of the Creator so much as learning the emptiness of all else. Turning with bitter scorn from earth's hives, where we find no honey but many sharp stings, we rejoice in Him whose faithful word is sweeter than honey or the honeycomb. In every trouble we should first seek to realize God's presence with us. Only let us enjoy His smile, and we can bear our daily cross with a willing heart for His dear sake.