Job faced more loss in the matter of a few minutes than most people will experience during their entire life. All of his possessions were stolen or destroyed. Those who worked for him were all slain. Then the greatest hit came when all of his children died together. As you read through all that took place you can hardly begin to imagine the emotions that must have begun to swell up inside Job. But when you get to his response it doesn’t match what one would imagine it to be.
Job 1:20 (ESV)
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped.
The verse starts as expected as Job rents his clothes and shaves his head. Both signs of grief and despair in his culture. Then he falls on the ground but not to cry as you would expect. It’s hard to not read that verse and almost to try to finish the sentence by saying and fell on the ground to weep. But that’s not what happened at all. Though he Faced such great even earth-shattering loss Jobs’ response was to still worship the Lord.
In fact, the Bible goes on to show that he even seemed to simply accept the circumstances that had befallen him. Giving us a saying we still often hear spoken today.
Job 1:21 (ESV)
21 And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Faced with the same kind of loss that Job faced most of us would offer a different response. More than likely we would sin in our anger or sadness. We would question the Lord. Blaming God for all that had befallen us, but the Bible said that Job did nothing of the sort. Instead, he had a response that matched the Bible’s description of him as a man who was blameless and upright. One that feared God and turned from evil.
Job 1:22 (ESV)
22 In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
Job 1:1 (ESV)
1 There was a man in the land of Uz whose name was Job, and that man was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.
The response we would expect Job to have and the one many of us would have is actually the response the devil hoped for. Satan believed that if Job lost all his blessings he would get mad and curse God. However, Job being a righteous man lived contrary to the devil and responded to great loss in a righteous way. In a way that honored God much more than simply praising Him while things were going good in his life.
Job 1:9–11 (ESV)
9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
Every time we face loss the devil is watching hoping we will offer a response against God. Hoping that the loss will cause us to walk away from our faith and lose our trust in the Lord. But that is the last thing we should do as Christians. As we can see this wicked tactic plainly shown in the scripture. When things go bad we shouldn’t blame God but continue to praise and worship Him. Because even in the bad God is still good.
No matter how bad things seem in the moment we can know that greater blessings lie ahead. Whether that means in this life like those Job received. Or whether that means in the next life where the glory we receive will greatly out way the sufferings we faced. Heaven lies in our future if we can keep a strong hold on our faith. Not giving in to the devil’s tricks. Once we are there every tear will be wiped away and all the pain from the past will be nothing more than a distant memory.
Job 42:12 (ESV)
12 And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. And he had 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys.
Romans 8:18 (ESV)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.
Revelation 21:4 (ESV)
4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
There is much we can learn from the book of Job but it is just within the first chapter that we learn how to properly respond to loss. Not with anger, hate, or ill will towards God but with the same praise we offered when things were good. At some point, everyone must face loss in some form. It’s important to meet that loss with the right response like our righteous example Job did. Offering praise to God and not responding how the enemy hopes we will. Keep the faith and praise God always.
1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV)
16 Rejoice always, 17 pray without ceasing, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
Psalm 113:3 (ESV)
3 From the rising of the sun to its setting,
the name of the Lord is to be praised!
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