After a Disaster, First Part

He could describe intense inner suffering in the 1st person due to his very own ocean of discomfort. Step into the time tunnel with me and let’s travel together back to Uz ( not like the magician of ___, but like the land of __ ). This place called Uz had a voter who had the status of everybody, as he was blameless, upright, God-fearing, and clean-living. He had ten youngsters, fields of stock, a sufficiency of land, a houseful of servants, and an important pile of money.

nobody would reject the man called Job was “the best of all of the men of the east” ( Job thirteen ). He had earned that title thru years of tough work and truthful dealings with others. Then, without statement, difficulty thundered on him like a landslide of great, jagged rocks. He lost his cattle, crops, land, servants, and—can you think it?—all ten kids. Shortly afterward he lost his healthiness his last human hope of getting by.

I plead with you to stop reading, shut your eyes for 1 minute, and identify with that good man—crushed underneath the weight of difficulty.

The book that bears his name records an entry he made into his book shortly afterwards the rocks stopped falling and the dust started to settle. With a trembling hand, the person from Uz wrote:. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Sanctified be the name of the LORD.” ( Job 1:21 ). Through all this Job didn’t sin nor did he blame God.

How could any one handle such a sequence of grief-laden ordeals so calmly? Think about the result : bankruptcy, discomfort, ten fresh graves. Yet we read that he worshiped God, he didn’t sin, nor did he blame his Maker.

Well, why failed to he? How could he ward off the antagonism or ignore thoughts of suicide? At risk of oversimplifying the situation, I recommend 3 basic answers : Job claimed God’s loving sovereignty ; he counted on the guarantee of resurrection ; and he confessed his very own lack of understanding. We’ll take a better look at every of these tomorrow.