JOB 1:20-22 – Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 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.

THEME OF THE DAY. HOW WOULD WE REACT? So, life is going well. Our investments are secure. No problems on the horizon. Bills paid with enough left over for some enjoyment, maybe a little travel. The family is equally doing well. Perhaps our children are not as close or interested in the Lord as we would like so we pray, but the relationships are solid. But then . . . suddenly, our world comes crashing down. Not a little, but the whole thing. Our investments? Bust. Gone. Our financial security? Bust. Gone. But we know things in life are not the most important. We also know money isn’t our source of happiness. At the end of the day, it is our prized relationships that matter most. We may lose everything, but we still have our family! But then, the dreaded knock on the door and a hysterical friend rushes in crying and screaming, “A tornado. It was awful. All your kids were gathering for a little party and get together. It came rushing down the street and devastated everything. I am so sorry. Your children, all of them, gone. No one survived.”

This is not a story of fiction. This happened, not us individually, but to a godly man named Job we read of in his Old Testament book – Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you” (Job 1:13-19).

How would we react if everything and everyone dear to us in this world suddenly was removed? Gone. Everything and everyone we valued and clung to are now only memories? Before we think long on this, go back, and read the response of Job in today’s scripture. It is absolutely astounding to read how he reacted to the painful sovereignty of God in his life. Job worshipped! What? Yes, he worshipped but this wasn’t worship, even the false worship of today’s contemporary church of feeling good by some song or motivational speech masquerading as preaching. No, this was true worship recognizing God for Who He is – mysterious and sovereign. Oh, I don’t doubt for a moment Job was a “weeping worshipper” and grieving while sobbing. Yet, he worshipped. He saw his God in all this loss and was enabled by divine grace to cry, “The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).

Friends, how we react in trying times, extremely trying times, will determine if we are a true worshipper of the living God. May Job be our example of learning that worship is grounded in Who God is despite our circumstances; despite the worst of human circumstances knowing God is good, always, despite the worst of circumstances.

PRAYER: “Father, forgive me when I complain in my life, even in the little things in life.”

QUOTE: “We deserve one thing from the Lord – His wrath. Think on this when tempted to complain.”