The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen. 2 Timothy 4:18.

The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love. Psalm 33:5.

Experiencing this life we live that is so full of experiences both good and bad; and reading Scripture that is full of wisdom and experiences both good and bad…if there is one blanket statement we can depend upon it is this:  God is Love. His Presence brings a calm no storm can destroy. We can be shaken, we can fall, we can even die and He is there loving us and receiving us to Him. 

This chapter, Job 18, is depressing because it is a mirror to the worst things we can think and say to others who we deem to be sinners as though we have the right to judge fairly. Bildad is getting angrier and angrier with Job. Job is now among the wicked according to Bildad and he will make Job see that. You who tear yourself to pieces in your anger, is the earth to be abandoned for your sake?…The lamp of a wicked man is snuffed out…His feet thrust him into a net, he wanders into its mesh…Calamity is hungry for him; disaster is ready for him when he falls…It eats away parts of his skin; death’s firstborn devours his limbs…He is driven from light into the realm of darkness and is banished from the world…Surely such is the dwelling of an evil man; such is the place of one who does not know God. v. 4, 5, 8, 12, 13, 18, 21. Wow.

We have each of us made decisions and have lived with the consequences both good and bad. We can do that apart from God and God allows that. He gives us choice. He loves us enough to respect our choices and helps us when we call out for His help. We can say the words Bildad says to Job in our own hearts and be diminished in love. God’s Love remains. If we ask Him, He will help us to stop hating and judging. We have our own histories and the histories of this world to know the end result of hating and judging. Have we had enough? This world hasn’t. With God helping us we can trust Him for this world filled with people hurting and needing His Love. I don’t have that kind of Love. Bildad didn’t have that kind of Love and neither did Job. That Love comes only from God – Father, Son, Spirit – and joy of joy…He loves you and me. In God is the peace your heart can know that God is here…and He is Love. He knows you, the good and the bad, and He loves you. We want to “crucify” people we judge to be sinners…God takes their hand and leads them to His Truth and redeems and heals them. Trust His timing and not your own. We don’t know the full story. God does. God is Love.