Job was
a man who had everything a modern person could wish for: Money, a good name, health, and a beautiful family. Then, Satan
the accuser went to God and asked for permission to mess with Job's life.
Tragedy struck and Job lost his wealth. Next, a storm took the lives of all his
children. Then, a debilitating disease left his whole body covered with
painful boils came upon him. Success became failure overnight.
Did Job
have a bad moment and think of himself as a failure? Oh yes, but not only
that, his own wife told him he was a loser and she even suggested that he should curse God and die. If she were a modern wife, she would've probably
filed for divorce and asked for alimony and loss of income, get the divorce
and then go party every weekend with her friends while Job dies of his horrible
illness without anybody to take care of him.
Job 3:1-4 "After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said: “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it."
However,
Job, as Joseph, stayed loyal to God's will and sovereignty. It looks like everybody
else wanted him to quit and die. God’s
response to Job's loyalty ended up in the Bible as a live
example of how God rewards faithfulness and true faith. Job didn’t name it and
claim it. He didn’t rebuke his illness in the name of God. He just looked
up with patience to our Sovereign God and waited for his deliverance, and
furthermore, blindly trusted in God. Why, even if his deliverance was death in
public humiliation, just like someone else who died in public humiliation. Do
you remember His name?
We read in Job 42:10-12 "The Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much
as he had before. (And then, selfie time!) All his brothers and sisters and
everyone who had known him before came and ate with him in his house. They
comforted and consoled him over all the trouble the Lord had brought on him,
and each one gave him a piece of silver and a gold ring."
The Lord
blessed the "latter part of Job’s life more than the former part.” To many this story centers too much on material wealth and some even use it
as a doctrinal basis for all their “get rich quick” message. I challenge you to read it carefully. The main subject of the book is about how you must keep your
own identity as a child of God, and do not let any external storm change
your faith and loyalty to God. We may suffer in this world but Jesus will
always be with us, even if we look like losers to the world.
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