December 31, 2021

Have you ever read the book of Job? If not, or if you only read part of it, what you know is that Job was a Godly man. Richly blessed by God. He lived his life praising God. He had everything that a person could want in his culture. He had cattle, livestock, riches, position, and many children. Life was amazing and Job praised God. But satan told God that the only reason Job was so Godly was because God gave Job all these things. Like a pay off and if those things were taken away, Job would not praise God. But God said, No, I know my servant Job, he will not stop praising me and doing the right thing. So to prove it, God allowed Satan to take away all of Job’s children, his livestock, & his wealth. Satan then told God that IF he took Job’s health, Job would curse God. So God allowed him to cover Job’s body with boils. Job’s friends came, but they said all the wrong things. One told him, that all these bad things were his fault, a result of some sin that Job had committed and IF he would just repent & ask forgiveness, God would restore him. But Job knew that he had not sinned and had made sacrifices for his children’s sins. At one of the lowest points, Job’s wife told him to curse God and die but Job said “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job did NOT curse God. Instead, “Job wished that he had never been born, and in fact, Blessed the name of the Lord. I can imagine the feeling. Losing your children, everything you worked for and your friends make things worse. This is where many people stop reading Job. It seems like it goes on for chapters with his friends dialog back & forth and that is almost painful to read.
I have heard people say that the past couple of years with all the things going on in our world, the loses, the sadness, the separation, isolation, that they felt like Job. But I think not. I don’t know anyone who literally had nearly everything taken from them. Job didn’t act indignant, entitled, or spoiled, he was humble & knew that since all these good things came from God, God had the right to take them away. When God had proven his point to satan, that Job remained a faithful man, God restored the years the locust had taken. He gave him children, livestock, riches all beyond what he had before. The story of Job is difficult to read. It is painful to see what Job goes through and what his well meaning friends tell him about it.
We are living in difficult times. Nothing seems easy these days. Our world is struggling with evil, pandemics, natural disasters…. But one of the lessons we need to take away from Job is that God IS in control! Satan only has the power that God allows him to have. He is the prince of this world, but we are not OF this world. This is not our home. Another lesson I got from Job is that when we are faithful to God, obedient in what He asks, He is faithful to us.
Eph. 3:20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us
Let’s enter into this exciting new year with joy in the Lord and anticipation of what HE has in store. Thank you Father for loving us and keeping us in the past year. Season our lives with your joy, give us an extra portion of faith to sustain us in difficult days, but most of all, THANK you for never letting us slip from your grasp. AMEN