Week Eleven of the Devotional Series
The Study of Job: Week Eight
*Note – As we continue our journey through the Bible in chronological order, this is our eighth week in the book of Job. Though this is Week 11 overall, we’re still walking alongside Job. *
Devotional Format: I Do – We Do – You Do
Focus: Job 29 – 31
Tip: I highly recommend journaling your responses to the questions, prompts, and reflections. Writing them out can help you process more deeply and see how God is working in your life.
This week’s devotion includes:
Chapter 29 – “Don’t Take Your Blessings for Granted”
Chapter 30 – “The Depths of Job’s Grief”
Chapter 31 – “Living with Integrity Before God”
(Remember: This is a once-a-week devotional that can be broken up over several days.)
Bible Memory:
Did you memorize last week’s Bible verse?
Hiding God’s Word in our hearts is such a valuable practice. Since I’ve been memorizing Scripture, I’ve experienced so many moments where God brings a specific verse to mind just when I need it most. It’s amazing how He uses His Word to speak into our lives right where we are.
This Week’s Memory Verse — “Let me be weighed in an even balance, that God may know mine integrity.” – Job 31:6
I Do – Watch Me Study
Job Chapter 29
“Don’t Take Your Blessings for Granted”
(Read Job Chapter 29 First)
Job continues his speech in chapter 29 by reminiscing about just a few months earlier when his life was good and easy. Reading this made me stop and think how often do I take my own life for granted? On the days when I feel overwhelmed with endless housework and the constant care of everyone around me, it’s easy to lose perspective on how very blessed I am. But oh how things could be much worse. I need to remember this, even on the messy, overstimulating days, and praise God for His protection and blessings.
In verse 4, Job says something that really stood out to me: “When the secret of God was upon my tabernacle.” This is a picture of being in close fellowship with God and walking in His inner circle. Job had intimacy with the Lord. Before tragedy struck, his children were around him. Everything he touched seemed to prosper. Younger men respected him, and older men revered him. He was known for lifting people’s spirits and being a source of help when someone was in need (v.13).
Then verse 14 really spoke to me: “I put on righteousness, and it clothed me: my judgment was as a robe and a diadem.” Job wasn’t righteous in himself. He had to put it on like clothing. That image makes me think of how we get dressed each morning. Just as we put on earthly clothing, we need to “put on” spiritual clothing too. Each day we must invite God to cover our flesh with His righteousness, asking anew for His Spirit to lead us and not our own strength.
Job continues describing his life before suffering. He was eyes to the blind, feet to the lame, a father to the poor. If he didn’t know an answer, he sought it out. He defended the weak and stood against the wicked. In verse 18, he says, “I shall die in my nest, and I shall multiply my days as the sand.” Job thought his life would always remain stable and secure, ending in peace at home.
Then verse 19 paints another picture: “My root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night upon my branch.” Roots make me think of stability, grounding, and protection. Job’s roots weren’t just in the dirt, they were spread out by the water, in the best possible place for nourishment and refreshment. The dew all night long symbolized constant replenishment. What a picture of Christ in us! The true Living Water who sustains and strengthens our roots day and night!
Job goes on to describe the respect others gave him. Verse 23 stood out to me: “They waited for me as for the rain.” To others, his words were refreshing, life-giving, full of truth and wisdom. People longed for his counsel like dry ground longs for rain.
Reading this chapter, I can imagine how Job must have longed to return to that life. But the greater lesson for me is this: don’t take the blessings of today for granted. Even in the ordinary days, even in the tiring days, God’s presence and favor are gifts. My prayer for myself and for you is that we will choose to clothe ourselves in His righteousness daily, root ourselves in His living water, and offer life-giving words to those who need refreshment, just as Job once did.
________________________________________________________________
We Do – Let’s Study Together
Job Chapter 30
“The Depths of Job’s Grief”
(Read Job Chapter 30 First)
In Job 30, the contrast with the previous chapter could not be greater. In chapter 29, Job remembered the honor, respect, and blessings he once enjoyed. But here, he describes how everything has changed. Now, even the younger people who once looked up to him, laugh at and mock him. These were the same men who used to be outcasts, poor, despised, and driven into the wilderness. Job says he wouldn’t have trusted them even to watch his sheepdogs (v.1). Yet now, in his suffering, they are the ones scorning him.
He felt deep humiliation. Job once stood in dignity, but now the lowest of society feel free to ridicule him. In verse 11, he says, “Because he hath loosed my cord, and afflicted me, they have also let loose the bridle before me.” Job feels like God has allowed his life to unravel, and since He has lifted His hand of blessing, people don’t even try to hide their disrespect anymore. They insult him openly with taunting and belittling.
From verse 15 onward, Job pours out how much he is suffering. He remembers being revered, but now he is filled with terror and misery. His body is consumed with pain. His bones feel pierced at night, his clothing hurts against his skin, his boils make him miserable. He feels like God has thrown him into the wind, tossing him about until he disintegrates. He longs for the grave, but it feels like his suffering will drag on endlessly. He cries out to God saying, “Didn’t I do good? Didn’t I grieve for the poor? Didn’t I help the troubled?” (v.25). Yet instead of blessing, Job feels only grief, turmoil, and loneliness.
This chapter is heavy. Job is brutally honest about how crushed he feels. And maybe you’ve been there too. Maybe not with boils covering your skin, but with pain that doesn’t let up, with people who mock or misunderstand you, with prayers that seem unanswered, with the weight of loneliness pressing down.
What can we take from Job’s words?
• It’s okay to be honest with God. Job didn’t hide his feelings. He laid out his pain and confusion. God doesn’t rebuke him for this. He can handle our honesty too.
• Seasons change. Job 29 and Job 30 remind us how quickly life can shift. Good days may give way to hard days. But just as seasons change, God is faithful to carry us through until the light shines again.
• God’s silence is not God’s absence. Job felt unheard, but the truth is God was still watching, still present, still writing the rest of Job’s story. The same is true for us.
Maybe today feels like a Job 30 season that’s heavy, painful, and lonely. If so, let this chapter remind you: God has not abandoned you, even if it feels that way. He is still holding the cord of your life, and though you may feel tossed by the wind, He has not let you go.
________________________________________________________________
You Do – Apply It Personally
Job Chapter 31
“Living with Integrity Before God”
(Read Job Chapter 31 First)
Job 31 is Job’s closing defense of his integrity. He begins by declaring a covenant he made with his eyes. He made a deliberate choice to guard himself from lust and impurity (v.1). He recognized that adultery is destructive, he explains that its like “a fire that consumeth to destruction” (v.12). He understood that righteousness wasn’t just about outward actions but inward purity too.
Throughout the chapter, Job responds to the accusations of his friends. He makes it clear: he hasn’t oppressed the poor, ignored the widow, or taken advantage of the fatherless. Why? Because he knows he is accountable before the same God who formed every human being (v.15). To disregard or dismiss the complaints of the vulnerable would be to sin against his Maker.
Job also didn’t let his heart be drawn away from God. He didn’t place his hope in riches, rejoice in wealth, or worship the creation of the sun, moon, or stars. His confidence was in God alone. He refused to rejoice at the downfall of his enemies (v.29–30) and was generous in opening his home to the poor (v.32).
By the end, Job wishes there were a written record of his case. He’s so confident of his innocence that he would carry the accusations like a crown (v.35–36). His life was an open book before God. He essentially says, “If I have sinned in these ways, let judgment fall on me. But I know I have walked with integrity.”
Job 31 challenges us deeply: Can we say the same? Do we live in such a way that if something false were said about us, no one would believe it?
Let’s look at how we can apply what we’ve learned into our own lives:
Like Job, we are called to live with integrity before God. Integrity means wholeness or being the same person in private as we are in public. Job wasn’t perfect, but he pursued righteousness intentionally.
For us today, this could look like:
• Guarding our eyes and hearts from impurity.
• Treating others with dignity, especially the poor, the weak, and the overlooked.
• Refusing to put our trust in money, status, or success.
• Choosing kindness over vengeance, even toward enemies.
• Keeping our lives “an open book” before God.
Living this way doesn’t guarantee people won’t misunderstand or accuse us. Even Job’s friends thought the worst of him. But it does mean we can stand before God with a clean conscience.
Journaling Prompts:
1. Have I made any “inner covenants” with God to guard my heart and walk in purity? If not, what is one I could begin today?
2. In what ways do I need to shift my trust away from wealth, possessions, or self-reliance and back onto God?
3. Is there anyone I’ve despised, ignored, or treated as “less than” whom God is calling me to see through His eyes?
4. Could I honestly say my life is an “open book” before God? What areas might I be hiding?
I challenge us this week to…
Choose one specific way to practice integrity. Maybe that means setting a boundary for what you watch or read, committing to speak truth even when it’s uncomfortable, giving to someone in need without telling anyone, or praying daily for someone who has hurt you. Write it down, commit it to God in prayer, and take one intentional step each day to follow through. Here’s some examples of what that could look like.
• Guard your eyes: Write it down, pray for self-control, identify and avoid triggers, and pause to ask God before engaging with anything that might pull your heart away from Him.
• Speak truth even when it’s hard: Pray for courage, find one opportunity to speak honestly and kindly, act on it, and reflect on what God taught you.
• Give quietly to someone in need: Ask God to show you who needs help, bless them without seeking recognition, and journal how it felt to give secretly.
• Pray for someone who has hurt you: Commit to praying for them daily, ask God to soften your heart, and note any changes in your own attitude or peace.
Write your chosen challenge down, commit it to God in prayer, take one intentional step each day, and reflect on how He is working in your heart.
Key Takeaway:
Job’s final defense reminds us that integrity isn’t about being perfect but about being wholehearted before God. Its about guarding our hearts, treating others with dignity, and keeping our confidence in Him alone. When we live this way, even if others misunderstand us, we can stand before God with a clean conscience.
Heavenly Father,
Thank you for the many blessings that you’ve given to us so freely even though we are undeserving and may sometimes take them for granted. I pray we would be more mindful and appreciative of all you’ve done for us. Lord, we desire for the the secret of God to be upon our tabernacle as it was for Job, so that we may experience that close fellowship with You everyday. Lord, help us to ‘put on’ Your righteousness like we do our clothing. We can’t rely on our own strength, but we need You guiding us through each day. We desire to be rooted by Your living water so that you can nourish and sustain us and give us life giving words to give to others. Help us in our challenge this week to build our integrity. I pray that you will guide us in an area that needs work in our lives. Help us to make those intentional steps to grow.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen
The Georgia Nest 