7/23/13
Job 1:1-22
In reading this small part of Job, I have found that even at the loss of all you hold dear, God is still to be praised.
God doesn't test us, he refines us. In our troubles, he uses our choices to help us through tough times and hardships. Never has he forsaken one of his own or even a lost sheep. Even when we blame him for our troubles, which we actually caused, he still stands ready to forgive and receive us into the Kingdom.
In the past I found myself blaming God for a lot of things. When my grandfather was called home Dec. 2, 1997 I blamed God for taking away my grandfather. I didn't hold onto God, I pushed him away. I told myself I didn't need a god who took people I loved away from me. But then, when I did that, trouble came upon me faster than I could have ever thought possible and I found myself lost in sin steeped so high I couldn't see over the mountain.
I then found that God didn't make this happen, he wasn't testing me, he was refining me. He was looking to perfect the masterpiece he'd created in me. If I would only turn and thank him, instead of cursing him for it. But back then, I was still hurting and had not dealt with my pain properly... So I rejected him again.
Finally, I began to see with new eyes once more that God was not my enemy, that it wasn't HIM who was testing me, but it was the Enemy who was and the more I pushed God away, the more the enemy succeeded and won the battles against me.
But when I turned back to God, repenting and asking forgiveness and really seeing that God loved me enough that he never left my side even when I was steeping in sin... The enemy lost the battles after that, I held on to my faith. In my trials I kept my head high and held God close...
Job, he was a man of God, a man who wasn't perfect, but was right in God's eyes. He didn't know what his children did but he made sacrifices for them anyway just in case. He loved God so much he rejoiced in his losses and held tightly to God's hand even to the point of suffering. He suffered many things, but did not sin against God by cursing, or blaming him. Even when everyone else told him too - including his wife! But the thing is, Job did not curse God, he did not walk away from the Creator... His faith was strong enough that even the Enemy was shaken by the fact of it.
To have that kind of faith, that is true faith. That no matter what happens, God has a plan, that God is in control. That even when the world is falling in around you, God is still gonna stand there with you and hold your hand, pick you up, dust you off, and help you walk forward again. God knows I'm gonna stumble, he knows I'm gonna fall down. He knows I'm gonna make mistakes and sometimes I'll try to run ahead only to find that I've fallen behind again... But through it all, just as with Job, God loves me.
So to have the faith as Job had, I have a lot of growing to do... To be able to sit and take the worst that the world or enemy can dish out and say what Job said,
"And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.' In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong." (Job 1:21-22)
That takes faith...
In my trials, I must remember that God is not testing me - for God does not test, but refines. I must remember that God's love is eternal and that even though he knows I'll fall very short of perfection, I'll still be under his mercy and love. Because Job tells me that no matter how hard things get, God is always in control.
This study was done back in July, however, it is more true today than back then. Anyway, please remember these are just my personal studies and I do not pretend to know everything. Please also remember that I am not a pastor, this study is merely a way for me to share what I've found by reading my bible (ESV) about me and the person(s) described within the Word.
