Day 293: Job 1:1-22

I once had a parishioner in one of my congregations who just couldn’t seem to catch a break.  No doubt, my heart went out to him.  He had received the news that he had terminal cancer.  He was so angry at God that he quit coming to church.  However, to make matters even worse, his wife was diagnosed with a brain tumor and passes away.  She leaves him with terminal cancer and two children still living at home.

In Job 1:1-22, Job is a good man.  Not only that, but he has it all!  He has a beautiful family with seven sons and three daughters.  His livestock contains thousands of sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and many servants.  He worships the Lord and repents the sins of all he oversees in his household. 

Satan comes to God in the heavens and challenges God to test Job.  Satan tells God, “Stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”  (v.11).  God tells Satan, “Go for it!  All that he has in your power, but you cannot lay hands on Job himself. (v.12).  And, so Satan goes after all of Job’s livestock – taking everything that he has away.

However, while Satan believed that Job would curse God for taking everything away, he does just the opposite.  Job rips his clothes off and tells God, “I came to the world with nothing and I will leave here and return to the Lord with nothing.”  And, at that moment, Job worshipped the Lord.

I think when bad things happen in our lives, we forget that Satan lives here in the world.  Evil exists here and bad things do happen.  God doesn’t make bad things happen to us!  But what I do believe is how we respond and react to the bad things that happen to us, make the difference.  God wants us to turn toward Him in our bad times and rely on His grace, mercy, and love to carry us through. 

God loves us so much and will never leave us or forsake us!  God sent His only Son to die for our sins just so we can have a relationship with Him and spend our whole life with our Savior – both now and forever in paradise!  If you think about it, why would we not glorify God through our praise and worship, even when we can’t catch a break?