Exercise Your Faith: Catastrophic Measures Call For Heavy Praise.

It is my prayer that the thoughts in this written expression will assist you in drawing closer to God, and possibly move you in the direction of trusting him more than ever.

At some point in our lives we come to a point where as believers we ask ourselves “How Could God Do This To Me”, “How Could God Let This Happen”, “Why Me”, “What Did I Do To Deserve This”. We may even ask God, “How Could You Let This Happened To Me God”, “Why Did You Do This”, or “What Sin Did I Commit To Deserve This”.

We all know the saying “To Whom Much Is Given Much Is Tested”. I want you to think about that saying as I do my best to run you through the story of Job.

The Bible tells us that Job was extremely wealthy. He had an extensive livestock, servants, and a large family. According to the text, Job lived a blameless life, and was careful to avoid evil (Job 1:1). He was indeed living his best life, if you will. However, in one day, Job received messages that his livestock, his servants, and children had died due to invasion or some type of natural catastrophe.

The plain and simple translation of that brief synopsis is that Job had it all and lost it all. Job did not deserve this. He could not be blamed for any sin, was fearful of God, and carefully avoiding evil. How could this happen?

Moving through the first chapter I found out that Satan and God had a conversation where God permitted Satan to tempt Job. He was able to tempt Job into losing his faith. However, there was one exception. He could not cause any harm to Job, he could only utilized his power among Job’s possessions (Job 1:6-12). After losing all of his wealth and love ones Job says “I was born with nothing, and I will die with nothing. The Lord gave and now he has taken away. May his name be praised” (Job 1:20). It is almost like he welcomed the stormy circumstances into his life.

Now I want to let you all to know that I really admire Job – I respect the ride or die mentality he had with Christ – but most of us (including myself) would think big bro is trippin’ for his optimism in the absence of his family. Some of us may turn our backs on God or even begin cursing his holiness, and have to do our best repenting (or not) shortly after.

My question to all of us is how strong is our faith?

Job remained blameless. Job praised God in the midst of his storm. He praised God during a time where most of us would have spent majority of our time feeling pity and sorrow. But that is not the word I am trying to convey, so let’s move on.

Satan goes back to God, and God permits him to tempt Job further by giving him power over Job’s body, with the exception of not killing him (Job 2:1-8). So Satan made large boils break out on Job’s body. Shortly after he had lost it all.

Job’s wife says to him “You are still as faithful as ever, aren’t you? Why don’t you curse God and die?” To which, Job answered saying “You are talking nonsense! When God sends us something good, we welcome it. How can we complain when he sends us trouble?” (this is the word here y’all!). The Bible says that even through all of this Job said nothing against God. Meanwhile, the enemy, his friends, and even his wife attacked his flesh with temptation and unfaithfulness.

Again, I ask you how strong is our faith?

God will never put more on you than you can bear (1 Corinthians 10:13). The enemy is so quick to tempt us, but we must keep in mind his power does not outweigh that of the Almighty God. His attacks are permitted by God. And God tests us because he expects and knows that our faith will be matured through the toughest times. We as soldiers must fight the battle that our flesh is exposed to, and lean on the everlasting mercy we can find only in the grace of God. We should find joy in praising him no matter the circumstance, and look forward to claiming Victory after the storm, in Jesus name.

God takes delight in our praise and faithfulness. He will honor and reward us for enduring the storms of temptation with a Job-like faith. Job 42:10 reads “And the LORD restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before”. As my Pastor John Jenkins would say, God gave Job double for his trouble. So I encourage you to pray, trust, and believe in the Almighty power of our eternal father.

We want to have an unwavering faith like Job – A Blameless Man Who Had It All, Lost It All, And Gained It All.

In Jesus Name,

Amen

Musical Selection: Mary Mary – Shackles