Lessons from Job

A while back (like I think Dan was still in college), Dan was talking about reading straight through the Bible. I don't know if he literally challenged me to do it too, but I know somehow I felt that I wanted to. To show how dedicated I am, I am already on Job. It's only been like 2.5 years. I am a super Christian.
but this is neither about my awesomeness, nor my inability to read quickly. It's about Job.
When I got to Esther, I was amazed, and LOVED it. It's one of the most ironic books ever I think. So then Job was next. Honestly, I was so bored by the idea of reading such a long book and having to force myself through it. But I read the Bible commentary intro and it helped so much. It said that you simply cannot read Job as a story. Then entire plot is in the first two and the last few chapters. But it is considered some of the finest writing, with long, eloquent speeches, and a whole lot of character development.
So I read it differently than I've read any other book. And I loved it. That's not to say that there weren't yawn moments, but really it's great. Here's some things I learned:
-Job was IN GOD's FACE! He said speech after speech against God, and called God out onto the carpet.
-Job's friends reacted JUST LIKE tons of people in the church today would (and maybe myself included). They said he was disrespectful. They said that there is NO WAY he could be blameless. That it was OBVIOUS that God saw something wrong in him.
-Still Job claimed to be blameless. That is such a HUGE statement. There is no chance I would ever make that claim. (Chin, you're in seminary. Does this have anything to do with him being in the Old Testament and having followed their laws? Is that any different than the way we function today).
-I knew God would show up in the end, but I couldn't really remember how, so I was really quite excited to see that happen. I'm not totally done with God's response, but I love that he was (1) so dang patient to respond (2)says to Job "Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you will answer me." (can you imagine if God spoke to you like that- pee ALL DOWN MY LEG at that point.) (3) is SO DANG SARCASTIC (ch38 v21 when talking about creation "Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years". HAHA that is amaaazing

Still, the single most amazing thing is the parallel with people in the church today that always attribute suffering to sin.

I could go on, BUT I don't want to get a reputation like Tim... going on and on all the time :) I love you Tim.