Subject: Gives and Takes
"Hi there, I just thought you might want to know that your children were having lunch together when suddenly a tornado swept in and the house collapsed. They're all dead."
•••
Yeah, I'm kidding. But seriously now. If someone came up and told you that, how would you react?
(Job 1)
Job was, of course, devastated. On top of losing all his children in one day, he'd already lost all his animals and working men by way of robbers, killers, and fire from heaven.
As if that wasn't enough, now all his children are dead.
This wasn't a good day for Job.
Verse 20 says he "stood up and tore his robe in grief."
That makes sense...I'd be pretty upset...but what comes next? When you run out of tears? Even after something like that, life must go on.
Well, see what Job did:
..."Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship."
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on.
Job just lost all his children. Why on earth is he worshipping God? Isn't it God's fault? After all, He is in control of everything. He shouldn't have let something like that happen, right?
That might be our point of view.
When something goes wrong, or life doesn't seem "fair," we blame God. Apparently we think the world owes us a living. We feel that we are entitled to all the "good things" in life. We think God isn't giving us what we deserve.
Well, guess what. News flash. God really isn't giving us what we deserve.
If He did, you and I would be in Hell right now. But because of His mercy and grace, He not only doesn't give us what we DO deserve - He gives us what we DON'T deserve (you might have to read that twice). For one thing, He gives us many earthly blessings, but best of all He gives us His Son!
There's no reason to think we deserve that! It's only because of God's Amazing Grace! If life isn't going my way, or I'm not getting what I want...so be it. It is God's will. I didn't bring anything into the world, so I shouldn't expect to get something out of it. It is God who has blessed me with so much, and it is His right to take it away.
Here's how Job put it:
"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."
('We brought nothing of this world's goods into the world ... and it is certain we can carry nothing out ... Job, under all his losses, is [simply] reduced to his first state. He is [simply] where he [will be at death], and is only unclothed, or unloaded rather, a little sooner than he expected.'
—Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary)
In fact, Job even said, "Praise the name of the LORD!"
We should praise the Lord too! Even when disasters happen, praise Him, because we can trust that it is all part of His will. ALL things work for the good of those who love God...even the hard things.
Even when bad things happen, God is in control. There is not a single atom in the universe that is not subject to God's will. We can praise God always.
Verse 22 says: In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.
•••
Wow. Even after Job lost his livestock, his servants, and his family in what would seem like a terrible accident, he didn't blame God. He knew he didn't deserve God's blessings. He knew it was God who had given him all that he had, and God could take it away.
I can't say I want all the things that happened to Job to happen to me...but if they ever do, hope I can remember to have the attitude Job had.
~my thoughts
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