Job's Job

And then there is God's servant Job......   Just stop and think what a day in the life of Job might have been like. He had all a man could hope for or ever want;  family, friends, influence, and riches.   If Job were alive today, he would be the ultimate celebrity on the reality show "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."   Yet Job's prized possession was his relationship with God.  Job displayed a keen spiritual awareness of God's character. He was very aware of the importance of  keeping his relationship with God vibrant and alive. He knew God was the center of his everything.  His practice of sacrificing in behalf of his children after every family gathering shows Job knew that God was the Alpha and Omega of all that he had and all that he knew. I can imagine how wonderful it was for him as a parent to know that his children loved to spend time with one another.  Yet, he still took time to sacrifice and worship just in the event that one of his children had sinned during their merry making. He was a true patriarch.  He was a true priest of his family.  He was a true believer in God.  Even with ALL that he had, he knew what was truly important in life.

 I wonder how many of us would be as faithful and thankful as prosperous Job.  I can't imagine what it must have felt like to have all that Job had here on earth coupled with the knowledge that he had about God and God's nature and character. He was living on the top of the world.  Can you imagine sitting on your veranda sipping your ice tea and before the beverage is gone you have one survivor after another tell  you that all you had is gone.  Before you can grasp the gravity of one report another survivor tells of one catastrophe after another.  Then the final blow comes, the deaths of all his children and likely all of any grandchildren that may have been living at the time were taken away forever.

We often are quick to run to God during the hard times but not so much when everything is going well.  I think that aggravated Satan. Satan was well aware of humanity's weaknesses.  Satan  knew and knows what works and doesn't work to get us to sin.  I think that is one of the reasons he was so determined to destroy Job.  He knew that Job loved God period.  He knew that Job's focus and goal was to serve God.   It wasn't about what Job had or didn't have.  So what does Satan do; he did what he is still doing: accusing the brethren before God and trying to kill, steal and destroy us.  Just like he did to Job.  When taking away all that Job had here on Earth wasn't enough, he then took Job's health.   Job's wife didn't deal with this drastic life altering challenge as Job did.  I think she dealt with the overwhelming loss like most of us would.  She became depressed, angry and bitter.  She lost all hope.  She lost sight of God and God's true nature.

Job made God  his primary job. Job's job was to live a life pleasing to God no matter what was going on around him.  Job didn't hide his confusion or his sadness or his suffering.  Job was as transparent and as human as anyone could be during this time.

I know God not only restored but increased all that Job lost.  But I also believe that God did something even more supernatural for Job.  I think God somehow healed Job in a way that Job was able to move past the grief and the emotional scarring of such a loss so that Job could truly live a life blessed of God.  That life is a life with living and making our primary job.

Job is a great example of how to turn to God in the good times and the bad times.

I thank God that we have the example of Job.  Our job is the same as Job's.  We are to learn all we can about God and reverence, love and serve Him.

God bless you all,
Jackie