Melissa Lees

The Book of Job Melissa Lees

The Book of Job: Seeing God through the Ashes takes a fresh perspective on the Book of Job. It's definitely not your typical grin-and-bear-it, endurance message. Instead, it is based on what James 5:11 tells us we should glean from God's answer.

"We count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord's dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful." (James 5:11, NASB)

In Job, God is incrementally revealing that He is extremely full of visceral affection which produces acts of kindness toward people who do not deserve it. Seeing God through the Ashes shows step by step how God made known His compassionate and merciful character through a corrupt and broken world.

Job didn't quit searching for truth when his religion failed; neither should we. He persevered through all of his desperate questioning and overwhelming depression until he found God. In the end, the revelation about the character of the Creator set his fearful heart free. Job said, "My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you" (NIV). His life was forever changed. He became more than a religiously upright rule-follower; he transformed into a man of generosity, peace, and kindness.

This book encourages us all, like Job, to ask the deep, nagging questions that distance us from God because God wants to reveal Himself. His unconditional love changes everything.