Monday, September 23, 2013

A VERY Blessed Man- Have You Got What it Takes?

Does it seem at times that God is trying to prove a point and that He's using you as the illustration? I don't know about you but I'm not too excited about those kinds of illustrations.

A long time ago there was a man named Job that God singled out in a most illustrative was and we all know that story. Job is widely known for being a man of patience, and while that is true to whom was he most patient toward?

He started off with so much stuff but it wasn't the stuff that drove him- it appears that what drove him was his family because he was always making sure he was interceding for them in case they had done something wrong. Here's a guy with LOTS of stuff that is more concerned with the hearts of his family than the stuff. That's something good to be known for.

He is also known for his response when he lost almost everything he had in a manner of minutes from various forms of disasters. Most people don't have their house burn down. Most people don't get struck by lightning. Most people never have an army attack them. Most people aren't in a single hurricane or tornado. What would it be like if you had all these things happen to you and all in 1 day? Would you be feeling like an illustration?

My grandson's name is Job. I don't personally know any other Jobs and often when I tell people his name they look at me funny. They sometimes follow it with "Wow, he'd better get ready for a crazy life" or something along those lines. I get it. But isn't there more to the story than he lost everything and was patient with some friends who could have been more encouraging and who didn't speak correctly about God?

The end of Job's life was more blessed than the beginning. Wow, that's saying something because he was very blessed in the beginning. 

Job knew his place before God and he also knew his God. He knew that God gives and he takes away and in both those situations He is to be praised. That doesn't mean that in all those times it's easy to praise or easy to see what God is doing but it didn't take away Job's understanding of Who God is in the midst of all those trials.

God is faithful in ALL things and Job is a great illustration of someone who implicitly trusted that God would do what was right no matter how bleak the circumstances looked at the time.

Job is a great role model of us today. Go out and take dominion of LOTS of stuff. Do it right. Be the best. BUT don't get so connected to the stuff that you forget your family and then don't get so attached to your family that if something happens to them that you are mad at God for those results.

Job was a righteous man and he was abundantly blessed. May we be this kind of illustration to the world. 

No comments: