So this is kind of different from the rest of my post, but I think this is more of the direction I want to take my blog.
This year, 2012, I was encouraged to read through the entire Bible, and I was like "might as well." I choose to do it chronologically. There is this neat little web page that allows you to make a plan to read the bible in a year. So I have started doing it and after some of Genesis, it jumps to Job. The timing of this could not have been more perfect.
While I was in Job, one of my friends passed away at the age of 20. His passing shattered my world, nothing felt the same after that. I had this numbness inside of me. It shut me down. The only thing I had left was my community and thank God I had them. All this reminds me of Job's story.
The book of Job starts with a meeting of God and the Angels. One of the angels is called Satan (or the Accuser), who is most-likely not the devil. God boast about Job/offers Job for testing by saying:
"Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
(Job 1:8)
God is proud of Job and he offers him up to be tested, but not physically harmed. After the first test Job has nothing; he lost his oxes, donkeys, sheep, camels, children, and servants. In other words his entire life, all his wealthy, tore apart, shattered, but what does he do.....he prays:
"At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
'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 1:20-21)
Job, broken and distraught, prayed to God when he faced a trail, he didn't get angry, he didn't curse God, but praised Him instead. Instead of running away from God and waiting to heal, he turned to God and pressed into him for comfort. Even after his second test Job doesn't sin against God:
His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
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 2:9-10)
Now, Job's suffering was so bad his wife told him to just "Curse God and die," but Job's response, provides some great wisdom. "Shall we accept good form God, and not trouble?"
It is easy to feel God when "good" things are happening in our lives. It is easy to praise God and thank Him for His blessings and His grace when our lives are in a "good" place. Sadly it is also, easy to shut down our faith when we experience trails. It is easy to say, "My life sucks, nothing is going right, and I can't feel God...so he must not be there." I've done this too many times, Job teaches us to push into God when we are suffering, when we are hurting. At the end of Job, God makes Job's life even more blessed.
So I guess what I am trying to say is push into God, when its easy and when its challenging. I know in the days around my friends death, the good days where when I read the Word and prayed, the bad days were when I turned my back on God. We should feel challenged by Job to praise God, for the trails and joys in life. Because having faith during trails will only strengthen our relationship with God.
A servent of the Lord,
Kyle
