Job 19:6

Know then that God has subverted my cause,

   Surrounded me with His siege works.

Every evening, I think my back is better, and every morning, I wake up out of kilter. When I first read this verse this morning, I was thinking that God thwarts our plans when they are not His and He surrounds us with things to do for Him. This would not be in line with Him having one best thing for us to do, but with so many opportunities that we should not have any need to wonder what we should do for ourselves but continually focus on others. New thoughts for me but probably results of maturing.

‘Subverted my cause’ was also ‘put me in wrong’, ‘wronged me’, ‘overthrown me’, ‘undone me’, and worst of all ‘behaved crookedly’. That last guy is the one I question if he is a Jewish Rabbi by faith or just by culture.

‘Surrounded with His siege works’ was also ‘closed His net’, ‘drawn His net’, ‘compassed with His net’, and ‘encircled with His net’.

I received an email about a card I wanted on Instagram. I looked at Instagram to check on it and saw where a friend met up with some random person to buy a number of cards for cheap. I was mad he took the risk, but happy that he got a good deal. I almost thought I never get good deals like that, and shortly thereafter an Astro card I wanted showed up for half what I would pay. So, I was happy for me to and thanked God.

One of my accountability partners convinced me to not have fried food for lunch yesterday. The food I got instead was really tasty. He asked if he went overboard in how he convinced me, but I told him he knew his audience. That is one of the aspects of God that I sometimes overlook. He know us, He knows His audience, and sometimes His audience is a knucklehead so focused on themselves they cannot see, much less tell the difference between right and wrong.

In Chapter 1, Satan talks about the hedge God has put around Job. Here Job talks about being surrounded by God’s efforts. I have no doubt that God spent considerable effort protecting me from myself while growing up, and while not as obviously, has continued to do so ever since. So I find joy in the possibility that God is still active in keeping me from getting what my sinful nature wants and the possibility that there are good works all around me to perform for His glory.

Written 10/23/25, Posted 12/25/25, Job 436/~1070