“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 1:21 NIV
The Lord should be praised at all times and Job recognized this. After the Lord allowed Satan to steal everything away from Job, he and his wife had two different reactions.
His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job 2:9 NIV
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. Job 2:10 NIV
Are we happy to receive Gods blessings, but let our hearts distress when things don’t go our way? God didn’t inflict this disaster on Job, but allowed it for His purposes. We can try to guess why, but let us simply be assured His purposes are awesome and unstoppable!
God continually allows us to endure challenges and trials. He does this for His glory, and our benefit. Life may not always appear to be pleasant, or seem reasonable in our eyes, but let’s keep our eyes on Him, through everything. He is worthy!
David wrote:
“Yours, Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours. Yours, Lord, is the kingdom; you are exalted as head over all.” 1 Chronicles 29:11 NIV
This is exactly how Job saw our God!
One of the things God does for us, through Job’s story, is define for us just how great He is!
He said to Job:
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy? Job 38:4-7 NIV
Not many places in the Bible go on to describe our God in this fashion. Though His greatness is always mentioned, God gives us this wonderful detailed description. He gives us all the hope to have our human minds begin to fully understand just how awesome in wonder He is!
He also said:
“Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” Job 38:31-33 NIV
Can we? Of course not, but our God can! He always deserves our praise. Through calm or stormy seas, He alone is there!
Praise him always, and remember to love one another.
Barnabas
Special thanks to Barnabas for this guest submission.