I’m reading through a one year chronological bible and I’m currently reading through the book of Job. In the reading of the book of Job, I’m reminded of what a remarkable man Job was. In the first chapter, He gets this report:
- Raiders stole his donkeys, oxen and farmhands.
- Fire fell from heaven and burnt up his sheep and shepherds.
- Raiders stole his camels and killed his servants.
- A great wind arose and blew down the house where his children were feasting, leaving ALL of them dead!
Can you imagine getting that report all in one day? Now that’s a bad day! And yet listen to Job’s response,
Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. (Job 1:20 NLT)
Worship? Really? Pressure and trials reveal who we really are inside. Job was the real deal. He wasn’t a fair weather believer. By that I mean, he wasn’t one who “worshiped” when things were going well and walked away in anger blaming God when they didn’t.
Chapter 1 ends with this statement,
In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. (Job 1:22 NLT)
So let’s ante up: blaming God when bad things happen is sin. God is only good. If we are really honest, we have probably blamed God for much less than Job went through. I know I have. What an example Job’s life was. Let it be an example to us. Job realized that God wasn’t obligated to give Him anything. Everything he had was because of God’s goodness and graciousness, and, if God He wanted to, He could also take it all away.
Job said, “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)
It brings up the question, did God really take it away? We already established that blaming God for bad things is sin. This topic is worthy of more time than I have today, but in short, God did allow it but God didn’t cause it, and everything God does or allows is only for our good (see Romans 8:28). God is for us.
Job’s response is both extremely inspiring and extremely challenging. There is a level of maturity with Job, an Old Testament believer without the Holy Spirit living on the inside, that is beyond much of what we see today, in ourselves and in other believers. I’ve seen “so-called” believers walk away from God over the tiniest offense.
Let us learn from Job’s example and have the same response when we undergo trials and testings: worship and praise.
