Steadfast and Preserved

Job 10:12 "You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit." ESV

 

Wow. This is an unusual verse in the middle of Job's suffering. He starts this chapter with "I loathe my life" and he ends it with "Why did you bring me out of the womb." Doesn't sound like a very hopeful dissertation to me. Yet in the middle of it all, he says this: "You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit." Job understood something. Even in the middle of it all, this was his hope. This was his foundation. This was something that he had to rely upon…that God gave him life and love and that even though it did not seem like it at this point, God still cared about him. And how do I know that this was something that Job hung on to? Because of two words: steadfast and preserved.

 

The word for steadfast is actually coupled with love and it means lovingkindness. It also means faithfulness. He knew that God was faithful in His love and kindness. He knew deep down that God was not going to abandon him. Yes, things were bleak. Things looked horrible, but in the middle of the chapter was this truth: God is faithful in His love.

 

Preserved actually means to set a guard. To keep. To protect. God was protecting Job's spirit. God was protecting Job's mind. When his wife told him to curse God and die, did he? No. God set a guard over his mind. Job was reminded of the fact that God was the author of his life, and that He loved and cared for him.

 

I know a lot of people who are going through it right now. Hospitalizations, surgeries, chemo, infections, divorce, kids abandoning God. Right now, for many, things can look pretty bleak. No matter how bad it gets, we have this truth, this foundation to rely upon: "You have granted me life and steadfast love, and your care has preserved my spirit."