FAITH CAPSULE:Leave it all for God; worry not but worship Him.

Job 1-2

Thank God for God. Forever, God shall be God. The Bible described Job as a blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. (Job1:1) Job was blessed with seven sons and three daughters. His blessings were also extended to material possessions. Job at his time possessed, “…seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.” (Job 1:3) In one day, without warning, a man that feared God and shunned evil, the greatest man of all the people of the east lost all of his material possessions and his children. Job plunged from the height of prosperity to the pit of poverty. Four rapid disasters struck him alternatively from earth and heaven. From earth, his livestock and servants were raided and killed by the Sabeans. On the same day heaven went against him when fire of heaven fell and burned up the sheep and servants. Again the earth forced against him when the Chaldeans raided the camels and killed the servants. The fourth disaster was climatic blow from heaven. It was a great wind that destroyed his house and killed his children…all disaster in one day. Job must have felt that all heaven and earth pitched against him to destroy him. Despite all, there was no iota of complain or blaming God for his tragedies. How are we to react in the face of confronting challenges?
In Job’s case, as if the lost of property and children was not enough his health became a victim of unexpected attack. Job was struck, “…with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.” (Job 2:7-8) In the midst of it all, Job did not despise his God. Job’s wife was the first to spite him when she reacted, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” (Job 2:9-10) Your challenges have taken a new twist; it is going deeper than earlier thought. In the midst of it all you still have the breath of life and it is worth praising God for. Without the Bible documentation of the cause of Job’s affliction it is easy to conclude that Job must have sinned. In your light affliction (compare to Job’s) are you being judge as sinner? Leave it all for God; worry not but worship Him.

Prayer for today: Ask God for strength to persevere in every area of challenge.