How often we cry out, "I can't take it!" when the storms of life rise up and threaten to destroy us. We forget so fast the principles we have learned straight through life's many experiences as our stress levels rise.
The Old Testament book of Job tells us about a house who suffered terrible loss. Job came straight through the storm with his faith intact as he triumphed over sin, sickness and death. His wife came straight through the same storm, but she fell apart emotionally and spiritually on her journey back to faith.
Attitude made the difference. It all the time makes the inequity as to how we weather our storms.
Many scholars believe Job was a modern of Abraham and the book written about him is for real one of the oldest in the Bible. He lived in the Middle East, and was a well-known and respected form in his community. His testimony shares a qualified private for prosperous living. He said, "I have made a ageement with my eyes" (Job 31:1). This sincere God-fearing man was very meticulous what he read, meditated on and looked at (1:1,8, 2:3).
Job was a rich man. He had a large family, a huge staff and many possessions. He was also a generous man. "I delivered the poor who cried out, and the fatherless and he who had no helper... I caused the widow's heart to sing for joy... I was eyes to the blond... Feet to the lame... A father to the poor" (Job 29:12-16).
His special concern was for the spiritual welfare of his children (1:5) and he prayed for them every morning. There is no report that Mrs. Job joined him in his morning devotions. While Job was construction spiritual muscles, Mrs. Job was taking the day as it came. Which was all very well when things were going their way, but a major question when the wheels fell off. And they fell off radically. Even in their wildest imaginations, they could not have anticipated what happened next.
In one day Job lost his whole staff, with the irregularity of three men. He also lost his firm and all the capital he had invested in livestock. He was totally bankrupt. While he was still trying to come to terms with his loss, he was informed that his ten favorite children had died in a terrible accident. Job also lost his health.
We can learn much from Job.
Job acknowledged God's sovereignty. "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away," he said (1:21). Mrs. Job, on the other hand, blamed God. "Curse God and die," she muttered angrily. Job refused to allow the "root of bitterness" to enter his heart (Hebrews 12:15). "Blessed be the Name of the Lord," he said quietly (1:22). Mrs. Job was angry. She believed prosperity or adversity was heaven's comment on life and she could not understand how God could be so unfair. Religion, she concluded, was a total failure. Job worshipped God and bowed down to His Lordship. If the sovereign Lord had allowed this, it was good adequate for Job. "He said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we for real accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips" Job 2:10. Curse God and die! "Commit suicide, Job," this bitter disillusioned woman told her husband. His wealth was gone, his home was gone, his costly children were dead and he was in a gross bodily state. What was there left to live for? Job was one of God's failures. Job exercised his faith and believed God would make a way. "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him," he insisted (13:15). Job firmly believed that God would stand by him. Mrs. Job believed their condition was permanent. She had no faith, no trust and no fellowship with the Lord. A deep darkness had invaded her soul. Job was ready to learn from his trial. "But He knows the way that I take; When He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold" (Job 23:10). "When the Lord has tested the reality of my faith," he said, "that which is spurious will be blown away and only gold will be left." He saw this as a learning curve in his life, from the Hand of the Great educator Himself, and was convinced that the Lord knew exactly what Hew was doing. That is genuine faith. Mrs. Job kicked and screamed all the way. Job was ready to learn. Mrs. Job was not. Job had a long-term view of life. What happens on this earth is merely the making ready for a life of eternal joy and blessedness in the presence of God for those who know the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what happens in this life, its value lasts for a brief moment in the light of eternity. "For I know that my Redeemer lives," Job insisted (Job 19:25-27). For Mrs. Job, there was no comfort, no peace - only depression. Job refused to be influenced by his wife or his friends. When he needed her the most, his wife spoke words of death to him. His friends accused him of private sin, deserving the wrath of God. Job stood firm. He believed God even when things looked their bleakest. He knew the private of praising God "in" all circumstances (1 Thessalonians 5:18).
The end of the story is a happy one. God is faithful, even when we are not (2 Timothy 2:13), and he brought both Job and his wife safely straight through the trial. He restored to them double of all they had lost. (Job 42:10-17). A poignant moment in this story of God's faithfulness is the comment about Job's children. God gave them only ten more children, a astounding insurance to Job that his prayers were answered and he had double the estimate of children for real - ten in heaven and ten on earth.
God is faithful, sovereign and kind, adequate for any storm. When we pick to believe that, and stand firm in our faith as Job did, we will find that we can "take it" in His drive and by His Grace. Our attitude makes the difference.
Action: Keep a unavoidable attitude
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