A Deeper Walk In God’s Love

Oh! That Book of Job!

How many of us avoid reading the book of Job? There was a time when God wanted me to read that book. Arggh! And of course, I, in all my humanly wisdom questioned God. Are you sure, God? Now? When I’m going through one of the greatest hardships of my life you want me to read a book filled with sorrow? Can I not read the book of Psalms? My life’s been stressful lately and the Psalms are soothing, so comforting. You want your children to be soothed and comforted, right?

So, without waiting for an answer from the Lord, I, once again in my humanly wisdom, started reading Psalms.

God will have His way in our lives even when we rebel, and He did so in mine. That very day, one of my favorite radio preachers that I listen to spoke on Job. And then on my way to work, another favorite preacher also taught out of? Yes, you guess it. Job.

But I was still asking, Why Lord? Why Job? Why at this time of my life must I read a book filled with loss and sorrow? Lord please, do You not remember how depressing that book can be?

Now I must put in a disclaimer by stating that I do not always have such behavior with God. And the few times that I have, He was patient with me and guided me to where He wants me to be. And such was the case here. Even though I was rebellious with God, He was faithful to me. He allowed me to hear from not one but two of my most favorite preachers teaching from the Book of Job. Since I did not go to the Scriptures, He wanted me to read, He brought them to me!

God’s actions prompted me to say, “Thank you, Lord, so much for your mercy and your love.” And to pick up my Bible and to turn to Job – and to read it.

And – I did. Most of it. Not all of it. For I found some of it difficult. Sad. Reading about how Job suffered such loss when he had not done anything to deserve it broke my heart. The suffering of those who bring suffering on themselves is sad, but the suffering of an innocent victim is heartbreaking. And innocent Job was. For he was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.

In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:1 NIV)

Reading about Job enduring all those losses touched a chord of sadness in my heart. I too have tasted the bitterness of loss and defeat. The loss of material belongings - of a business - of income - family - and even my church. For the past few years it seems that my only purpose in life, was to endure another loss. And there I was reading about a man who was also acquainted with loss. In fact, very much the same loss. Only Job’s were within hours, while mine took months.

God wanted to show me something. In Job 3, Job was stressed to the point of cursing the day he had been born. His suffering had pushed him to the point of suicide. He lamented the very day he was born.

Job was at a point where he needed to choose to live and to trust that God would help him through his trials. And in spite of all his misery and agony, the persistent begging of his wife, and the finger pointing of his friends, Job did just that. He decided to praise God even though life was extremely hard. Job made the critical choice to stay true to God. To continue trusting Him. And because of his choice, God restored all that Job had lost and then some.

Now, this is not a name-it-and-claim-it-lesson. This is a lesson about trusting God. While at a crossroads, Job chose to be faithful to God and to trust that God knew what He was doing. And because of his faithfulness to God, God rewarded Job greatly.

The lessons we can learn from Job are:

1. God rewards those who trust in Him.

2. God rewards those who wait on Him.

3. God is faithful to His children and rewards those who are faithful to Him.

4. God is very generous with His rewards

Are you in a spot where you feel as though your life is chaotic and out of control? Are you feeling trapped by the circumstances in your life? May I suggest reading the book of Job. Start with chapter 1 and read until you realize that your life is no different from that of others. Read until you see that others have endured the same circumstances you are now enduring. Read until you realize that there is an end to your present circumstances and that God will reward you once you have endured should you stay faithful to Him. Feeling better? I thought you would.