I have many friends who currently live in the land of Uz. You may be one of them. My friends are in the struggle of a life time. Their identity in Christ is being threatened by an attack of the evil ones. Some are personally experiencing the destructive beast of cancer. Others are having their eye sight stolen. Still others are seeing their family destroyed or their possessions stolen.
Personally, the attack on me came in the form of a nonstop migraine for over a year. This was hell on earth. It was accompanied with a business collapse and loss of a lifetime of savings. For you, the beast may come in some other form…. but it is likely if you live in the land of Uz, the beast will come.
“Job was a man who lived in Uz. He was honest inside and out, a man of his word, who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion.”
Consider Mary… opening a bottle of excessively expensive perfume worth thousands of dollars showcased against a poor and starving world, she pours the perfume on the head of Jesus and washes His feet with tears, wiped with her hair. Jesus loves her dearly and has a deep friendship with her brother Lazarus. Others with Jesus were furious at Mary’s wasteful attitude.
“Jesus was at Bethany, a guest of Simon the Leper. While he was eating dinner, a woman came up carrying a bottle of very expensive perfume. Opening the bottle, she poured it on his head.”
Consider Lazarus… he is a personal loved friend of Jesus. I believe my friends living in the land of Uz to be personal loved friends of Jesus. Lazarus falls ill and dies even in the knowledge of Jesus. In hearing of his friends illness and possibly yours, Jesus hangs back and waits for the inevitable. Lazarus dies. I want to scream! How can that be? Jesus loves Lazarus and Jesus love you and I. Yet… He waits.
“Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, but oddly when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed on where he was for two more days.”
Living in the Land of Uz, it seems time may stand still in the midst of suffering. At times it even seems God has forgotten you. In the Land of Uz, friends will judge you and find your life lacking. Some will avoid you hoping to avoid any suffering in their own life. Some will even believe you have committed great sin and God is punishing you, believing you are getting what you deserve and still Jesus waits…
But in the midst of suffering… one does not have to wait for Jesus. Jesus abides in the suffering. Jesus feels every pain you feel. Jesus weeps even as Mary weeps. Jesus is anointed with your tears. Jesus is the beginning and the end. If you choose to believe… Jesus abides. Jesus will save.
“You don’t have to wait for the End. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die at all. Do you believe this?”
THE REST OF THE STORY… it is really insignificant compared to the adventure lived out in the Land of Us. Lazarus is raised from the dead. Job goes on to have his family and possessions restored hundreds of times over. Mary is remembered for her passionate love of Jesus. The unfaithful friends in the Land of Uz likely meet with eternal damnation.
As for you and I currently living in the Land of Uz, we will believe and abide in Jesus… even in the waiting. We choose to believe, knowing that Jesus loves us and will not abandon us in the midst of our belief. In our believing, Jesus chooses to abide in us.
In our believing whether in life or death, Jesus will heal each of us and restore all the locust has eaten. In our believing, we will not just be an insignificant subtitle in history. We will be remembered for our courage and love of Christ.
In our memory… others may experience Jesus in their own personal Land of Uz.
God Spots 