I have just finished reading the book of JOB and, as always when you read the Bible, it has shown me something I didn't see before.
I have to admit something first though. Reading JOB took a really long time. I stopped reading somewhere around chapter 29. I am not sure why. I got preoccupied with other things; life, work, kids, whatever. But I think that part of it was because when I finished the last few chapters it was after Hurricane Ike and I saw something that I might not have seen before the storm or weeks earlier.
Job is in the middle of an extreme life storm, a hurricane if will. He has lost everything. His kids, his wealth, his possessions, and his health. And while he is in the depths of his despair, we get to see his response. I have to admit, after losing our first daughter; I struggled with faith and Gods sovereignty. "Why has he let this happen to me?" was what I was thinking. How God could let this happen. To be honest, I didn't have the answer, not sure that I still do. But, I do know that I am not all powerful or all-knowing. GOD is. (read JOB chapters 38-39). I may never know all the answers, just like Job didn't know all the answers. But Job trusted GOD with everything. Job did not understand everything that was going on around him, but he knew that no plan of GODs can be ruined.
Job says in chapter 42:5 that, "My ears had heard of you before, but now my have seen you." My eyes have seen you... powerful. How did Job see GOD? I am not sure, but you can believe that his life was forever changed when he did. Job had spent his whole life following GOD. Believing in and having faith in a GOD who he had heard about and when the trials of life came he held on to that faith in GOD. And because of that faith in GOD, GOD showed himself to Job. How did GOD show himself? In a quiet little meadow? In the peaceful moments just before sunrise? No, GOD showed himself to Job in the middle of a storm. Now, I am not sure if this storm was a literal storm or not. I believe that the storm was the storms of life. It started out as just a little rain (1:13-14) then it became a thunderstorm (1:16). Then this storm began growing, swirling and gaining strength (1:17), it became a tropical storm. If that wasn't enough, it continued to grow and became the biggest hurricane in Job lifetime (1:18-19). This hurricane in Jobs life became all consuming to his very being (2:7-8). It destroyed everything he had ever known and everything he ever held dear. But in the midst, the very middle, of this terrible life storm, GOD appeared and showed himself to Job.
The storms may be terrible. We may not understand why things happen to us. We may question what is going on. We may even get mad at GOD. But don’t, don’t ever waver in your faith. Never abandon hope. When the storms come crashing, whether they be literal or figurative and they destroy all that you hold dear, look to the middle of the storm and see that GOD is in the middle of it with you.
I have to admit something first though. Reading JOB took a really long time. I stopped reading somewhere around chapter 29. I am not sure why. I got preoccupied with other things; life, work, kids, whatever. But I think that part of it was because when I finished the last few chapters it was after Hurricane Ike and I saw something that I might not have seen before the storm or weeks earlier.
Job is in the middle of an extreme life storm, a hurricane if will. He has lost everything. His kids, his wealth, his possessions, and his health. And while he is in the depths of his despair, we get to see his response. I have to admit, after losing our first daughter; I struggled with faith and Gods sovereignty. "Why has he let this happen to me?" was what I was thinking. How God could let this happen. To be honest, I didn't have the answer, not sure that I still do. But, I do know that I am not all powerful or all-knowing. GOD is. (read JOB chapters 38-39). I may never know all the answers, just like Job didn't know all the answers. But Job trusted GOD with everything. Job did not understand everything that was going on around him, but he knew that no plan of GODs can be ruined.
Job says in chapter 42:5 that, "My ears had heard of you before, but now my have seen you." My eyes have seen you... powerful. How did Job see GOD? I am not sure, but you can believe that his life was forever changed when he did. Job had spent his whole life following GOD. Believing in and having faith in a GOD who he had heard about and when the trials of life came he held on to that faith in GOD. And because of that faith in GOD, GOD showed himself to Job. How did GOD show himself? In a quiet little meadow? In the peaceful moments just before sunrise? No, GOD showed himself to Job in the middle of a storm. Now, I am not sure if this storm was a literal storm or not. I believe that the storm was the storms of life. It started out as just a little rain (1:13-14) then it became a thunderstorm (1:16). Then this storm began growing, swirling and gaining strength (1:17), it became a tropical storm. If that wasn't enough, it continued to grow and became the biggest hurricane in Job lifetime (1:18-19). This hurricane in Jobs life became all consuming to his very being (2:7-8). It destroyed everything he had ever known and everything he ever held dear. But in the midst, the very middle, of this terrible life storm, GOD appeared and showed himself to Job.
The storms may be terrible. We may not understand why things happen to us. We may question what is going on. We may even get mad at GOD. But don’t, don’t ever waver in your faith. Never abandon hope. When the storms come crashing, whether they be literal or figurative and they destroy all that you hold dear, look to the middle of the storm and see that GOD is in the middle of it with you.
