Scripture Passage for Today
Job 1:1-4:21
Scripture Focus
“I came naked from my mother’s womb,
and I will be naked when I leave.
The Lord gave me what I had,
and the Lord has taken it away.
Praise the name of the Lord!”
(Job 1:21 NLT)
Observation
The opening language of Job is “off the chain” (a new-to-me phrase I heard my teenage son declare recently). It’s over-the-top. I don’t mean that it’s untrue. I simply mean that the Bible’s praise of Job could not be stronger.
Job is described as “blameless—a man of complete integrity…[who] feared God and stayed away from evil.” It was Job’s regular practice to not only live uprightly himself, but offer intercessory sacrifices on behalf of his children—on nothing more than the *possibility* that they might have sinned against God. Even God says about Job, “He is the finest man in all the earth.”
Job is also—presumably as a result of his righteousness—“the richest person” in his entire area. His wealth includes vast holdings in livestock, numerous servants, and many children—seven sons and three daughters.
And in less than one day, everything is gone: His livestock, servants, and even his ten children, all dead, destroyed, or stolen.
Now, the argument over the “why” of his loss becomes the subject of the rest of the book of Job. But the fascinating (and wonderfully healthy) thing about Job is his response to calamity.
“Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” (Job 2:10 NLT)In spite of the emotionally draining, spiritually trying, theologically challenging discussions that will follow in the rest of this book,
Job seems to have a fundamental understanding that any blessing grows only from the grace of God and never from our own merit. There is no evidence of any entitlement mentality on Job’s part.
I, by contrast, am inclined to wonder about the justice of it all when the car doesn’t start or the microwave popcorn burns! I need to be reminded that—simply by being born as an American—I am (by default) among the wealthiest 2% of the world’s population, that I did nothing to earn or deserve that status, and that all of my material, relational and spiritual blessings are a result of the grace of God. Having understood that, I need to be submitted so completely to God my Redeemer that—even if He takes it all away—I’m able to honestly declare…
“Praise the name of the Lord!”
(Job 1:21 NLT)
14 comments:
I am grateful for what i have and what God is doing for me in my life. i sometimes fall to the greedy side and want more and want it now. I am trying to do better in that area. Job had it all and even had grace with God. God himself said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." I am having trouble with this and wonder why God would allow satan to do this to Job when God knows the outcome of what is going to happen and why he would allow satan to take everything from Job, knowing that Job would stay faithfull. I look at my own life and wonder why i did the things that i have done and now where i am at. I am struggling with some issues in my life on how to put them back together and may have burned to many bridges to to ever see them rebuilt with the people i love but God is there and i know the bridges that i have burnt with Him have been rebuilt and are still going. at one time i felt so lost and didnt know that. i would talk and look at the sky and just not feel anything in me. I guess i am looking for an awnser to why this would happen to a man that was faithfull to God and loved God with all his heart. Any help with this I would appreciate. Thank you all for your time.
Joey wrote:
"I guess i am looking for an answer to why this would happen to a man that was faithful to God and loved God with all his heart."
Hey Joey--
That's the point, or at least the question, with which the book of Job wrestles. You've hit the nail on the head! (You should feel good about that!) But rather than answer your question quickly and simply (life's most challenging questions aren't always answered quickly or simply), the book of Job invites you to wrestle with it a while yourself. I'd encourage you to let that question simmer while you read Job...read the book as a whole, keeping the big picture in mind, thinking about the answers Job's friends give to that question, and then--ultimately--the answer God gives to that question. Job can be hard to read all the way through--personally, the book's a bit "wordy" for me (I know--that's ironic). I wish the "speakers" in Job would just get to the point and say it straight out plain. But if you'll read with the big picture in mind, letting the question you raised form the background for your reflection, I think you can discover a lot about yourself and God. Sometimes that's even more beneficial than direct answers to our most troubling questions....
Blessings, my friend. :)
Thanks for the added word Pastor. Just thinking "Will an hour be enough on sun" It just seemed to me that given all the pain Job had suffered and had not blamed or cursed God he finally just let the pain out, still not cursing God. His friend begins on a good note but seems quickly turns a corner. Good advice to keep the big picture in mind and not get lost in all like you say the wordiness of the book. not that this makes much difference but the reference to Satans fall has not occured if reading this in order of events, am I wrong in this?
The thought or rather the song that flows through me after reading today is "Blessed be Your Name" by Matt Redman. "You give and take away....Blessed be the Name of the Lord".
Ooops!!Guess that comment was to quick needed to think a bit, not awake enough i guess, got it!!
Blessed Be Your Name
Blessed be your name
In the land that is plentiful
Where the streams of abundance flow
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
When I'm found in the desert place
Though I walk through the wilderness
Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name
Blessed be your name
When the sun's shining down on me
When the world's all as it should be
Blessed be your name
Blessed be your name
On the road marked with suffering
Though there's pain in the offering
Blessed be your name
Every blessing you pour out,
I turn back to praise
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say...
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your name
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be your glorious name
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Lord, Blessed be your name
Job to me is a great example of even when things come on us and everyone wants us to give in and throw in the towel that we can stand up and say like Job should we have only the good things from God and not cont. to praise his name even when we lose everything. I need to remember that and ask God for the grace to keep going praise God so much because all is his and I pray that God can say the same thing about me that He said about Job too.
I think Job's friends can also be a reflection of how we tend to react to others' situations. It's so easy for us to sit back and analyze what someone else is going through without knowing exactly what is in their heart and mind. We can be a people who are so quick to judge based on our own opinions, thoughts, emotions. We need to stop playing god and just be a comfort to the people who are suffering because just maybe we'll be a direct hand from the maker of all heaven and earth.
The bible says, "My ways are so much higher than you ways. My thoughts so much Higher than yours." It also says, "I will make the foolishness of man wisdom and the wisdom of man folishness."(not necessarily in that order) But my favorite thought about the mind of God is "Had they known, they wuld not have crusified him." Praise God that his Good is not always understandable, But it is Always GOOD.
Great word anonymous!!
Satan is God's enemy. He was trying to get to God through Job. I feel it's the same with us. Satan really could care less if we have a job or not, if we are sick or are in need..... Satan cares about how we react to those circumstances and if he can come between us and God. (That's how he gets to God is through us) I noticed that, "what Job feared most" had come upon him. Satan knows our weaknesses and that's where strikes. I want to grow in faith everyday and let God take away ALL my fears. Show no weakness!! Praise God for His grace as He continually works that in me. I looked up the many scriptures that God tells us not to fear b/c He is with us. He has given us so many great promises that build our faith. There was a time I think I showed more faith in what Satan could do then what God promised me. I'm so thankful for the Teacher and my Deliverer.
Looking back at so many difficult trials in my life, sometimes I just sit and stare blindly out into space, saying, “I don’t get it.” “Why did this transpire or that occur?” I ask, “Where were you God?” It may take awhile, but I come full circle again to what Pastor has succinctly summed up, “Having understood that, I need to be submitted so completely to God my Redeemer that—even if He takes it all away—I’m able to honestly declare…“Praise the name of the Lord!” I believe that is the essence of our authenticity in our relationship with Christ - to recall that when things are the toughest (our ‘cross’ roads)…that He is still Sovereign on His Throne…He is always Good and always on Time with His Perfect Will. Philippians 1:6 (Valerie – loved the song!!!)
Thank you Pastor and you all for yo great comments. it really helped me today. thank you.
What I get out of all of this is when trials and tribulations happen to us. We look to God for comfort. Job lost everything dear to him and he still had faith in God. Think of how many people you know choose to curse God instead of confiding in him. Glen H
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