“I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:5-6)

One of the greatest revelations in your life is to find out who you are. That is, finding self; not what others may think you are; not what you may even think you are; but finding out who you really are.

Many saved people live under a mask of disguise and not only have fooled others, but have deceived themselves. Humans have a mysterious capacity to make up for their seeming shortcomings, whether they be physical or spiritual, by living in a dream world of human perfection. They look in the mirror, and see not their flaws, but see that they resemble some famous movie star or some comic superhero. So to compensate for their flaws, they live in that dream.

Such was the case of Job. Job looked into the mirror of “good works” and it was enough for him to justify himself to his friends in his time of sorrow. The truth of the matter was that Job did not know himself until he faced God.

Job 42:1-6: “Then Job answered the LORD, and said, (2) I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. (3) Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. (4) Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me. (5) I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. (6) Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

God brought Job into sorrow, not to destroy Job, but for Job to find himself.

Once you find out who you are and come to terms with that fact, then you can be used of God to carry out His Will and to help others in times of trouble.

God uses many things to bring us to face self. One of the major schools God uses are the fires of tribulation and suffering. When you search the great men of God in the Scriptures, you will find it was in the fiery furnace in Babylon for the three Hebrew boys, that they found themselves. It was in the den of lions for Daniel; in the prison for Jeremiah; in the suffering of the Apostles, the Church, and the saints even to this hour; that God has used, is using, and shall use, to bring His people to find self.

When you find self, the mask of deception is removed from yourself and before others. Job said in Job 42:5-6, “I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. (6) Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” He said, I have heard Thee and now I see Thee and now I see myself; and I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

The Child of God must come to see that self is nothing without God and without His Righteousness and His Power. The fires of sorrow and suffering purify, purge, and cleanse self-righteousness and self-sufficiency; and replace these with Christ’s Sufficiency. (Study 2 Corinthians 12:1-10.)

Then and only then can you be who you really are and be used of God. Read 2 Corinthians 1:4-10; especially verses 4, 9:

“Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God.” (2 Corinthians 1:4)

“But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.”(2 Corinthians 1:9)

Christ is our Example in John 12:27-28:

“Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour.” (John 12:27)

“Father, glorify thy name. Then came there a voice from heaven, saying, I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” (John 12:28)

And so Paul wrote in Hebrews 2:10c, “…to make the captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings.” (That is, His Suffering proved His Perfection.) Christ did not bypass His Valley, His Purpose; but He went through it. And in His Valley, He proved Who He was. And so it is with the Child of God.

Don’t despise your Valley of Baca (tears), your valley of the Shadow of Death (Psalms 12:1-6); for here you find out who you are and Who God is. Then you can say (Isaiah 6:8c) “…Then said I, Here am I; send me.” The real me, the me that knows, “But by the grace of God I am what I am…” (1 Corinthians 15:10a).