I Had Heard, But Now I See: Job and the Path to Easter: A Lent Reflection

The season of Lent 2026 began on Wednesday, February 18. This season is a journey to the cross and the celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, on Easter Sunday. This is a time of reflection and humbling before God, as we realize again that by sending His only Son to die on our behalf, God did something we could not. That is making the way for us to return to a right relationship with Him.

This is a season when many will deny themselves some pleasure or other activity. Whether it's food, complaining, impatience (fasting), or adding something good to their lives, the point is to focus more on our relationship with God and on what He has for us.

There was a man in the Old Testament who went through a time of reflection and humbled himself before His creator. That man is Job.

Job had a lot of bad stuff happen to him. His family, his health, his wealth, everything was stripped away from him. His wife even told him at one point to curse God and die!  He had friends who told him it was because of some sin in his life and that he needed to confess it. However, he did not have a secret sin, and he knew that. So he didn’t understand why all these things happened to him.

There are 37 chapters of him being berated by his so-called friends, his defending himself to them, and his questioning of God and accusing God of being unjust.

Finally, in chapters 38-41, God speaks to Job, and Job heard and is challenged. In these speeches, Job is struck by God's awesomeness as he again recognizes that God created and maintains the world, the animal kingdom, and the realm of morality and justice. God’s power and wisdom in creating and sustaining creation are far beyond Job’s understanding or ability.

In Job 42:1-6 (NLT), we hear Job’s reaction.

"Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 ‘I know that you can do anything, and no one can stop you.’

Job is acknowledging that God and God’s purposes are supreme. God’s plans are never thwarted. No one has the power to force God to change.

3 You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?  It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,  things far too wonderful for me.’

Job is confessing his own ignorance. His understanding is limited; God’s wisdom is far greater than any human’s.

We see people all the time, especially in this time of social media, podcasts, and the news, who claim to have all the answers. And they believe they can tell us the best way to live and what to believe. Sometimes we think we have all the answers. But really, we’re all limited in our knowledge and understanding. God is the only one who knows all things and has the answers to our deepest needs. Job recognizes now that he spoke without knowledge and admits his ignorance in challenging God.

4 You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!  I have some questions for you, and you must answer them.’

In God’s speeches to Job, God asked him some questions. Job had been challenging God, but then Job was challenged by God.

Job’s response is 5 ‘I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.’

Job now has new insight. He has now learned that God is good, even when life isn’t.  He no longer just knows things about God; he has now experienced God. That’s what God wants for us to. Not just to know facts about Jesus, not to just go to Bible studies and be in church, though those are essential and beneficial. God created us to have a knowing relationship with Himself.

Job still doesn’t know why he suffered as he did, but he has now experienced God and is willing to accept and trust God’s plan for his life. Here he is trusting in the Lord and no longer leaning on his own understanding. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

In verse 6, Job says, ‘I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.’”

Job clearly understands at this point that his power is nothing compared to God’s.  He is now ready to go in a different direction. He is no longer going to challenge or criticize God. He also sees that he was wrong to accuse God of being unjust and unconcerned about what was happening.

He is facing his mortality. He is facing the fact that God owes Him nothing. God owes us nothing. We have not done and are unable to do anything to deserve salvation. He has now come face-to-face with God’s holiness and sees his own unholiness in comparison to that of God. “In dust and ashes,” he confesses his humiliation and mortality in comparison to God’s power and wisdom.

This humbling was necessary for him and is necessary for us.

In A Consuming Fire, Devotions for the Lenten Season, Debbie Goodwin says,

“Until we admit we are not self-made, we cannot stand before the cross to receive what God says we need. Humbling ourselves is the gutting of every excuse and rationalization. It is the detoxification of what our culture pushes on us. We need this slow, soulful journey to the cross because our hearts carry weights and chaos that God never intended us to experience. We remember who we are and who we are not. We bring our unedited selves to God so he can burn away what does not need to stay. When God does his work, a new burning begins in our hearts, and we wait, humbled and ready to listen” (16).

From dust the human race was formed, and to dust we shall each return. We each come face to face with our own mortality, that God is God and we are not, at some point in our lives. But we are welcomed by God to come with our own brokenness and our need for the Savior, knowing that even though God doesn’t owe us, He gave us anyway. What a great thought as we travel this road to the cross this year!

Reflection Questions

1. Job said, "I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes." What does it mean for you personally to move beyond knowing facts about Jesus (through church, Bible studies, or routines) to a deeper, experiential relationship with Him? How can Lent's focus on reflection and humility open space for this encounter?
   

2. The text emphasizes that God wants us to have a "knowing relationship" with Him. What distractions or comforts might you need to fast from (a pleasure, a habit like complaining or impatience, etc.), or spiritual disciplines you can add (prayer, service, Scripture meditation, etc.) this Lent to prioritize experiencing God's presence more deeply and being formed more fully into who He created you to be?
   

3. In moments of trial or when life feels stripped away (like Job's losses), how has God revealed Himself to you in unexpected ways? If not recently, pray for eyes to "see" Him anew during this Lenten journey to the cross.
   

4. The quote from Debbie Goodwin highlights humbling as "the gutting of every excuse and rationalization" and allowing God to "burn away what does not need to stay." What excuses, rationalizations, or "weights and chaos" in your heart might God be inviting you to release this Lent so a "new burning" of His love can begin?

   
   

Use these questions for journaling, prayer, small group discussion, or quiet meditation. May the Holy Spirit guide you into deeper humility, repentance, and intimacy with God this Lenten season, leading you to the joy of resurrection hope.

*Goodwin, Debbie. Consuming Fire, A: Devotions for the Lenten Season. The Foundry Publishing. Kindle Edition.