20240610

trust remains

Job 1:1-22 (JDV)

Job 1:1 There was a man in the land of Uz named Job. He was a man of complete integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil.
Job 1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters.
Job 1:3 He also had seven thousand sheep and goats, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large number of servants. Job was the greatest man among all the people of the east.
Job 1:4 His sons used to take turns having feasts at their homes. They would send an invitation to their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
Job 1:5 Whenever a round of feasts was over, Job would send for his children and purify them, rising early in the morning to offer burnt offerings for all of them. Job thought, “Perhaps my children have failed, having cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.
Job 1:6 One day the sons of God came to present themselves before Yahveh, and Satan also came with them.
Job 1:7 Yahveh asked Satan, “Where have you come from?” “From roaming through the land,” Satan answered him, “and walking around on it.”
Job 1:8 Then Yahveh said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? No one else on the land is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.”
Job 1:9 Satan answered Yahveh, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
Job 1:10 Haven’t you placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
Job 1:11 But send out your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 1:12 “Very well,” Yahveh told Satan, “everything he owns is in your power. However, do not lay a hand on Job himself.” So, Satan left Yahveh’s presence.
Job 1:13 One day when Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house,
Job 1:14 a messenger came to Job and reported: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing nearby,
Job 1:15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:16 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “God’s fire fell from the sky. It burned the sheep and the servants and devoured them, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:17 That messenger was still speaking when yet another came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, made a raid on the camels, and took them away. They struck down the servants with the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:18 He was still speaking when another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house.
Job 1:19 Suddenly a powerful wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people so that they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped,
Job 1:21 saying: Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. Yahveh gives, and Yahveh takes away. Blessed be the name of Yahveh.
Job 1:22 Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything.

trust remains

A major test of a person’s character comes with catastrophe. It brings out the worst in some people, the best in others. Job is one of those people whose pure hearts shines through when struck by darkness all around. His life literally falls apart around him, and he is grieved deeply by it. But his relationship with the LORD remains. For most, God is immediately to blame when disaster strikes. Job sees the disaster as another reason to worship. His trust in the LORD remains, even when things happen that cannot be explained. Behind the scenes there is a reason for the destruction and death. Job does not know that reason. But he still chooses to trust the LORD.

LORD, make us strong in our relationship with you, so that if the times of testing come, we will be found faithful.