To go along with this post, listen to this song by Brandon Lake, Remember the Miracles.
JOB! What a man! Someone who’d pray for his family and offer sacrifices for his sons saying, “it may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.”
We always think of Job as this “guy” who had everything, which he did, and think that Job could never be us. Yet how many of us have a roof over our head, transportation, food on the table, money to go do fun things, good health, a family who loves us, a good church, and most importantly a Savior who died for us.
A majority of the world wishes they could just have food on their plate or a safe place to lie their head at night. So whether we see it or not, we are like Job.
But would we act like Job if we lost everything? What if we lost it all? What if we weren’t born in America, where people can choose who they want to be? What if we didn’t have the comfort that we take for granted daily, myself included. I think that Satan uses our blessings against us, to pit us against one another, even those halfway around the world. We start to compare, not comfort but hardships. We think that no one else could feel this hurt, yet constantly we are reminded that we are blessed by just waking up every morning in a bed.
I myself struggle with not questioning God even if I have a bad morning, let alone losing just one of the many things mentioned above. Would I have the strength to withstand sadness and cursing God when those around us attack us? Or if God allowed everything I love and cherish to be destroyed? Another good question to keep in mind is, how would those around me react? Would they react like Job’s friends?
Even when Eliphaz questioned Job and said true things about God’s judgements like, “happy is the man whom God corrects.” Yet, there seemed to be an adversarial outlook to it. An attack rather than a word of encouragement, Eliphaz said, “Now a thing was secretly brought to me and my ear received it. In thoughts from the vision of the night, when deep sleep fallleth on man, fear came upon me, and trembling, which made my bones to shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up: It stood still, but I could discern the form thereof; an image was before my eyes, there was silence, and I heard a voice saying: Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?”
He goes on to show/say how God is righteous, which is honorable and true, but I cannot help but notice how this speech meant to Job. Of course Job knew these things. So why attack him when he obviously knew?
In all things we are called to call out our brothers sins, but we forget how easily that “righteous anger” can be perverted by Satan to punish or put down others. Jesus warned us of this, of this righteous anger to speak out.
“Judge not, that ye not be judged. For with what judgement ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye measure, it shall be measured to you again. And why ye behold thou speck in thy brother’s eye, but consider not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, let me pull out the speck out of thine eye, and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?”
Do all you can to remove the sin of comparison. When we see others who have more and they lose it, do not relish in their defeat, remember all these things could happen to you.
So when we see those who may have more than us, remember the miracles that God has given you. If you have a car, then praise God! You can drive to and from places without walking! If you have functioning legs, praise God! You can walk to and from places! If you have eyes, praise God! You can see the beauty that He has created in everything! If you have a nose, praise God! You can smell the things that God has created! If you have ears, praise God! You can hear the heavenly harmony every morning by listening to the birds! If you have a house, praise God! Even the Israelites didn’t have a house for 40 years in the desert, praise Him that you have a safe place to lay your head! If you have family, praise God! You can enjoy the fruits of countless generations labor and toil! If you have friends, praise God! You can enjoy laughter and love with those not even related to you!
If you have all these things, and more, and still feel longing for more, remember that God can give and God can also take away. In the blink of an eye, your car, your legs, your eyes, your nose, your ears, your house, your family, and your friends can all be taken from you, not as a punishment, but as a test for refinement by the one true God. God will always restore as well, it may not be on this earth, but your reward in heaven will be great! So remember the miracles, think about every single decision that goes back as far as Adam to remind you that God will provide! In the pit and in the fire He is there with us!
I don’t say this as a boast, by no means do I live up to what I’ve written every day.
I complain, I regret, I sorrow, but even through that God still cares and loves me. I don’t understand it, I don’t get how someone can love someone who continually sins against them without ceasing.
It seems impossible that the Creator of the universe cares about little ole me, but He does. So each day, you and I will put each foot in front of another and run this race that God has tasked us with.
I thought last night about, what is the point of life? It is a test and a hard one, but a test that has rewards during it, and the final reward that surpasses all others comes at the end,
PRAISE GOD!
Maranatha,
Watchman
