The story of Job

If you have never heard the story of Job I can assure you that it is a story that you will remember. So the book go Job is a book of the Bible that explores how righteous people suffer. It is an extended conversation based on poetic speeches. The moral of the story is that we are being warned to avoid reducing God's moral rule to easy formulas.

Job 1:1-3: In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, thee thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people in the East.

How awesome of a man does Job seem like? He fears God and shuns evil, he has a great family, he owns thousands of animals, and more. He is obviously very wealthy and yet, he's still a great man. We should be like Job in so many ways.

So one day, the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. Next a dialogue happens between the Lord and Satan. The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord, "From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it." Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil." Imagine being the type of person where the Lord literally says, "There is no one on earth like him." Satan goes on to say, "Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the world of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse your face." Here, Satan is obviously thinking that he has got this in the bag...well Satan was wrong again. Then the Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." The battle is on.

The battle: Now is when things start to take a turn for the very worst for Job. First all of Job's 500 oxen are stolen by the Sabeans. Job found this out because only one person escaped to tell him. Next, Job's seven thousand sheep all burned. Again, one person was able to tell Job what had happened. Next, a group called The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and stole all of Job's three thousand camels. One person survived this and told Job of the terrible news. What else could happen to Job? Well there is another thing...another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the dessert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead."

I don't know if you were able to pick up on this some detail in there, but after every loss for Job there was always one messenger left to tell him what had happened. I am not entirely sure why, but am trying to figure it out. How would you react to this? I would be shocked. I don't know how I would react. Satan literally took away everything that he had.

Here is how Job reacted. Job 1:20-21: At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."

If all those paragraphs seemed like just a bunch of words to you I hope and pray that you can take that last verse to heart. The Lord gives and the Lord takes, yet he will be praised. Next time you feel like God is taking away things in your life, know that he does that, and he loves you and he should still be praised forever and ever. Remember, the Lord let Satan take away everything that Job had-he does that-God will never put us through anything that we can't handle. I hope that the story of Job is encouraging to you as you face and conquer every day. I always hope that you remember to not reduce God's moral rule to easy formulas.