Job was a man of incredible faith, patience and endurance
Job experienced seemingly unwarranted suffering and pain despite being a man who revered God , shunned evil and was upright. Everything dear and good to him was taken away. His children dies, wealth gone, health deteriorating. Yet through it all he never turned his back on God, despite the constant accusations of friends the apparent abandonment of God. He painstakingly kept a remarkable faith in God. Trusting that God is good and a God of justice and sought God for answers instead of giving in to forsaking God.
A key verse for me that highlights the tenacity of Job’s faith is seen in Job 1:21: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Job response is applaudable, remarkable and quite unbelievable especially as he is saying this after being battered with a series of horrid news, all at once. To still have the humility to say that he is entitled to nothing and will give God the praise regardless. In the midst of such overwhelming grief and sorrow he still chooses to trust God.
This truly is a man of faith, patience and incredible endurance.
Stop Giving Unsolicited Advice
Job’s friend made several accusations and suggestions for Job’s plight. All were wrong. The Lord was even angry at his friends for this .
“7 After the Lord had said these things to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has. 8 So now take seven bulls and seven rams and go to my servant Job and sacrifice a burnt offering for yourselves. My servant Job will pray for you, and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly. You have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has.”“
~Job 42:7-8:
Be weary of what you say even if its a close friend and only give advice when asked or you are certain that what you’re saying is true, because as seen in the verse you speaking our rashly can have unfavourable repercussions.
God doesn’t have to justify to us why He does a thing, we simply must act in faith
Initially when I started reading Job I looked forward to see how God would resolve and explain to Job why he had experienced so much suffering. As a reader we have a panoramic view of the events that have occurred. We know that Job is being put through a test and that it was the devil that wanted to test the loyalty and faith of Job. I hoped that this would be explained to Job. The answer to his questions would be revealed and God would explain why he had to go through what he went through.
But God does not do that. Rather in response to Job’s questions, God questions Job about the creation of the world and the various creatures in the world and whether Job knows how all of it works!
God highlighted Job’s ignorance of earth’s natural order to reveal how much more ignorant he would be of God’s moral order and thinking. As a limited human being we neither have the ability to judge God who created the universe nor the right to ask why. God’s actions do not depend on ours. He will do what he knows best regardless. He is the creator of the whole universe and even though we want to know all the answers now while we live on earth we may not always get to know what all the answers are but God magnificent as he is simply requires us to humble ourselves and put our faith in Him regardless of all rationale.
When you trust God you never have to think you’re a ‘has-been’
Job second half of his life was far more prosperous than his first half.
12 The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. 13 And he also had seven sons and three daughters. 14 The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. 15 Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers. 16 After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. 17 And so Job died, an old man and full of years. ~ Job 42:12-17
This reassured me that regardless of the setback or however devastating a circumstance may be, by trusting in God thing can be not just good but better than they ever were.
You don’t have to reduce yourself to a ‘has-been’.
Thank you for reading,
Signing off,
Faith With Petra 