Acquaint Yourself with Him

Reading Job is a very deep experience — there’s so much poetic brilliance in the back-and-forth debate between Job and his friends. Not everything all of them say is “right” or accurately defines God’s nature (and not all of it is meant to), but when it does reflect something 100% true about God, it stands out. A passage from today’s reading in Job was one of those many stand-out reflections:

“Now acquaint yourself with Him, and be at peace;
Thereby good will come to you.
Receive, please, instruction from His mouth,
And lay up His words in your heart.” (Job 22:21–22)

This is a well-meaning truth being told at someone who is grieving and already has a relationship with God and needs more encouragement and help than a general platitude. But, it’s true. It amused me that the NKJV uses “acquaint” because that doesn’t sound like a very close friendship. Either way, I know that it is true.

These past few days I’ve gone up on a walk and have parked under a tree and done exactly what Job’s friend is saying, here. I have waited and listened, allowed my mind to hear God and my spirit to be full of peace as a result.

Forging a relationship and friendship with God is the root cause of good. It leads to your betterment and betters the world around you. The other part of knowing Him is receiving His instruction and storing up everything you hear deep down. The point of that is to make sure you never forget what you hear and that you are sure to act on what He instructs.

It seemed a little silly, but glancing at this short highlight, I saw a picture of a park bench — somewhere quiet and out of the way where God can (and wants to!!!) sit with you, to hear about your day and your frustrations and your gratitude. It is also a place where He expects you to listen!

I’m trying to make a habit of finding my own place to do just that, and I would recommend that to anyone who wants good things.