TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
Then Job replied to the LORD: “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely, I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)
Job was a good and righteous man who was blessed with health, wealth, and a great family. But he lost it all when Satan attacked him. He was stricken with sores, his home and cattle were destroyed, and every one of his children died. All he had left was his wife and she constantly discouraged his faith in the LORD, as she nagged him to, “Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9). Job’s friends were compassionate and empathetic at first, sitting with him in silence for seven days. But…when they began to argue about why bad things happen, and started to blame and accuse Job, he called them “miserable comforters.” (Job 16:2)
In the chapter before our Bible passage for today, God has just reminded Job of His power, and Job replies, agreeing with the LORD that His sovereign purpose can never be thwarted. As he acknowledges the LORD’S faithfulness through his grief and loss, Job declares that the God he had heard of with his ears, has now been experienced in his sight.
Like Job, we love the blessings and riches of the LORD, and want to avoid tribulation at all cost. But…when we journey with God through the trials and sorrow that inevitably come, we experience victory over Satan’s schemes, we see the Lord with new eyes, and we are drawn into a closer walk with Him. Sometimes, like Job, the LORD allows us to lose it all in order to find everything! So…repent of your sin and follow God unconditionally. Keep holding Him by the hand, even in your pain, and you will find Him faithful.
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