God’s Glory And Nobility Thrives In The Midst of Struggles. Kevin E. Jesmer

Job 39:19-30.

Key verse 39:19, ““Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?” 

Verses 19-30 read, “Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane? 20 Do you make it leap like a locust, striking terror with its proud snorting? 21 It paws fiercely, rejoicing in its strength, and charges into the fray. 22 It laughs at fear, afraid of nothing; it does not shy away from the sword. 23 The quiver rattles against its side, along with the flashing spear and lance. 24 In frenzied excitement it eats up the ground; it cannot stand still when the trumpet sounds. 25 At the blast of the trumpet it snorts, ‘Aha!’ It catches the scent of battle from afar, the shout of commanders and the battle cry. 26 “Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south? 27 Does the eagle soar at your command and build its nest on high? 28 It dwells on a cliff and stays there at night; a rocky crag is its stronghold. 29 From there it looks for food; its eyes detect it from afar. 30 Its young ones feast on blood, and where the slain are, there it is.” (NIV)

There are three very noble animals in this part, the battle horse, the hawk and the eagle. God gives animals their nobility and their greatness. These animals have been a source of inspiration for people since the dawn of civilization. They are strong. They are spirited. They are brave. They overcome adversity. They struggle to overcome adverse situations. Our Creator is the one who does this. He is the one who raises these creatures up in nobility. He works in the same way in people also.

God raises up his people in nobility. Before meeting Jesus and becoming new creations in him, we were enslaved by the power of sin. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1:25-26, “Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”  Not many of us were of noble birth. We were so far from exhibiting the image of God. But God did something miraculous in our lives. He forgave us of our sins. He dwells in us his Spirit. We become renewed. We become healed. We grow in the image of God. We became new creations. 2 Corinthians 5:17 reads, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (NIV)

God worked in the life of King David transforming him into a noble man of faith. Psalm 89:19-20 reads, “Once you spoke in a vision, to your faithful people you said: “I have bestowed strength on a warrior; I have raised up a young man from among the people. 20 I have found David my servant; with my sacred oil I have anointed him.”  David was not always such a great man. There was a time when he was a teenage sheepherder. There was a time when he sinned greatly against Bathsheba and her husband. He was not always the great king. He had prayed in Psalm 51:11-12, “Create in me a pure heart, O God,    and renew a steadfast spirit within me. 11 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.”  God heard David’s prayer. God forgave him created him anew. He bestowed David with the strength of a warrior. He was raised up by God from among his people. God anointed him and David was raised up by God to be one of the greatest men of faith in history.

A person’s noble beauty comes from Christ. 1 Peter 3:3-5b reads, “Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. 4 Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God’s sight. 5 For this is the way the holy women of the past who put their hope in God used to adorn themselves….” (NIV) We all try, both men and women, try to adorn themselves outwardly. But such efforts don’t bring the results that people long for. They may spend thousands and thousands of dollars on outward adornment. They become disappointed when faced with the reality that everything in this world it perishing, spoiling and fading away. (1 Peter 1:4) We all must know that the source of eternal lasting noble beauty comes when we put our hope in the Lord and let God “dress” our spirits by his grace. Then our inner beauty will be unfading.

Young people are raised up by God to thrive in wisdom and stature, which is noble in God’s sight. Jesus was raised up, by the Father in heaven, to be a very noble teenager. Luke 2:59 reads, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” Most teenagers are very self absorbed and obsessed with things that are not noble. But the spirit of God on a young person will help that young person to grow in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and people in their community. Jesus set the example to show what is possible for all young people when the spirit of God comes upon them.

God makes all of his people, men and women, young and old into noble people of faith. God’s Spirit came upon the hearts of men and women in Acts 2:17-18, which reads, “‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. 18 Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy.” The people spoke the word of God boldly. They were full of Christ’s vision for humanity, the world, God’s mission and the Kingdom of Heaven. Even old people will dream dreams of the kingdom of God. They will dream of the fruit that will be born through the lives of those who are following them on the pilgrimage. They dream dreams of the fruit of their lives that are continually unfolding . God is recreating them all into noble people of faith by his Spirit.

    Christ transforms youth into noble people. Isaiah 40:30-31 reads “Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; 31 but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles;  they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  How many young people are tired and weary? They are more tired and weary than some old people. There is no medical reason why this is happening. It is because of the power of sin sapping life from their marrow. But when they come to Jesus, Jesus forgives them of their sins. He transforms their hearts. Jesus infuses his life into their tired veins. Their strength is renewed. They soar on wings like the noble eagle. Eagles soar on the winds almost effortlessly and for long periods of time. All they need to do is spread their wings and soar. They run and not grow weary like the battle horse. They will walk and not be faint. They become full of God’s life. John 1:3 reads, concerning Jesus, “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.”

The nobility of these three creatures in this passage is magnified through their struggles. The horse, the hawk and the eagle are great because of how they respond to their struggles. The horse runs bravely into battle. The hawk defying gravity, taking flight to hunt for it’s prey, and the eagle also defying gravity, braving the heights and hunting to raise it’s family. Nobility is nurtured and grown in the midst of our struggles of life.

We should embrace the inevitable struggles, that we have been led into and glorify God though the struggle. Don’t avoid them. God has a purpose for them. First and foremost he wants to work through our responses to bring glory to himself. How a Christian responds to hardships can reveal Jesus Christ and the power of the Gospel. Job was suffering greatly. But he responded well. He was not rejecting the Lord. He was seeking answers. And God was now giving him the answers and establishing him as a noble man of God.

How important it is to possess the right inner direction and perspective? I think the verse Matthew 6:33 sums it up quite well, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.”  Seeking God’s kingdom and Jesus, who is our righteousness, is the top direction we need to take when we suffer. What about 1 Thessalonians 5:18, “give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”? Giving thanks, even when we suffer is very important. And then there is the verse in 1 Corinthians 10:31, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Bringing glory to God is imperative in every realm of life, even when we suffer. We need to have the right world view in the midst of our suffering. Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who[a] have been called according to his purpose.” God is working everything according to his purpose. God is love. (1 John 4:8) We can see the ultimate, eternal goal of all of our suffering, it is the glorious kingdom of God and adoption as God’s children. In light of this our present day sufferings as like birth pains into something more glorious.

Romans 8:18-23, “18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. 19 For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that  the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 22 We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. 23 Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.”

And so, it all depends how you perceive, respond and react our situations.  Job was very noble in his quest to finding answers God. Jesus will help us when we cry out to him.

We are facing some sort of suffering, both inwardly and outwardly. There are all types struggles cancer, depression, our sinful nature…battles like living in poverty, preaching the Gospel among a resistant societies, our struggle to survive, to provide for our families like the hawk and the eagle. Cry out to the Lord. He will make you like the battle horse, the hawk and eagle soaring on the clouds.

Prayer: “Lord, help me to look beyond my struggles to see you and what you are doing. I trust that you are working in my life to bring glory to God.”

One Word: Glorify the Lord in all of our struggles.