How To Respond Job 1:1-5
Several weeks ago I said I was reading the Book of job. I would read some of it, then put it aside. But I kept going back to it. If I didn’t say it then, I’ll say it now; Job is depressing. Here is a man who is called blameless and upright, a man who seems to have everything he needs to live a comfortable and prosperous life, and a man who loses everything he has in the world. Where is the lesson for us in this?
Through Job, God is teaching us something, we just have to look for it. In the gospels Jesus says he is the life, he is God, all very uplifting. Job, not really uplifting, so it took me some time to get below the sentences to see the spirit in this.
Verse 3, “He was the greatest man among the peoples…” Job had treasures on earth, but scripture tells us not to rely on earthly treasures for our joy. 1 Timothy 6:9, “But those who desire to become rich fall into temptation.” Matthew 6:24, “No one can serve two masters…You cannot serve God and money.” 1 John 2:15, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”
God blesses each of our lives, some with more, some with less. God uses Job to teach us. God takes from Job to show us that all our possessions, all the things we work for, can be gone in an instant. Can God take them, sure, but we can lose our things for several reasons. People just lost homes, cars, possessions from a hurricane and flooding. God did not send the storm; it is weather caused by a fallen and imperfect world.
I’ve seen people lose a life’s worth of savings because of an illness. Cancer, heart disease, COVID; diseases are not God’s punishment, they are a result of our fallen and imperfect world, and they affect both believers and non-believers. I’ve seen people’s lives change in an instant because of an accident. God didn’t cause the accident that boke Sophia’s neck causing her to become a paraplegic.
But even as Job lost everything, we see God was always there, always watching. Job’s story tells us all that no matter what goes on in our life, God is with us.
The lessons Job teaches are important to us, especially if we happen to be in a season of loss or suffering. One lesson; God is so powerful, only deep respect and adoration are our appropriate response to him.
The Bible discusses several people who encountered God; Moses, Peter, James and John, at the transfiguration, Saul, who would become Paul. A quick glance shows us that none of these took their encounter lightly. Their encounters started them living Proverb 1:7, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…”
“Fear” here doesn’t mean a cowering in the corner “fear,” it means a healthy respect and acceptance of God. The beginning of our knowledge of God is understanding he is all powerful; no leader, no building will be more powerful than God for leaders die, and buildings collapse. When we understand this as Job did, all our questions, our complaints, our priorities, dissolve into awe of the Almighty. Job 42:5-6, “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore, I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Understanding God’s unlimited power will change our perspective on our lives and set us in awe of a God who loves us.
The next lesson is God loves us so much he gives us the gift of his grace. During his ordeal, Job wasn’t silenced; Job 30:26, “Yet when I hoped for good, evil came; when I looked for light, then came darkness.”
Job views God as the one who is persecuting him, and he believes he doesn’t deserve any of the troubles he has. All through time men have lamented to God, claiming and believing God is working against them; claiming and believing they don’t deserve the ordeal they are confronted with. Just like with Job, God doesn’t demand our silence, we can cry out to him how unfair we think things are, and he is big enough to take our anger.
At the end of the story, we see Job was given livestock, land, and a family greater than he had before. Whatever we have, whatever we lose, as believers, upright and righteous through faith, what we gain in heaven is far greater than anything we can know now.
The third thing here is, God is God, and obedience is our proper reaction. Job is told by God to pray for his friends, to pray for the ones who were not telling him the truth about God. Job 42:8, “My servant Job will pray for you and I will accept his prayer and not deal with you according to your folly.”
Job did as God asked because God is God. We can see this obedience of God through thousands of years of Biblical accounts. Adam and Eve were commanded to start populating the earth. For Moses, the job was an exodus. For Isaiah it was prophecy and leadership. Paul and the disciples, they were commanded to bring Jesus to the entire world. And there are others, Johah, Abraham, Noah; they were all given directives by God, and each fulfilled those directives despite fear and uncertainty.
What is God telling you to do? Whether it’s following Christ in baptism, or to give your time and money to a church, or to live a life in ministry by going to other countries to teach of Christ, or to volunteer for those in great need; know that if God gives you a mission, he is right there as you do it. As you do what God directs you to do, know that God loves you and is giving you his grace, and leading you in the work he has given you to do.
God is God, and whatever our reservations, obedience of the Creator is the only proper response to his direction. And obedience of God will lead you to the most satisfying, fulfilling, and rewarding life you can imagine.
Job can be a depressing read, and one we tend to avoid, but it does have things God is trying to teach us. One is that God is always around you, always watching, listening, always present. Two, despite the things we do in our lives, ff you are righteous through faith in Christ, God will bless you with his grace. Three, we should obey God despite our reservations, solely because he is God. Four, Job’s life seen on a spiritual level show everyone that no matter what you have, what you lose, what you have in heaven is far above what you have now, far greater than anything you can gain in this life.
And finally, for those who think they live a good life and don’t deserve the hardships that come, think of this; Jesus led a perfect life, did he deserve the cross?
Peace be with you all,
Amen