When I feel like Job…

There are times I can look back on in my life that I prayed to be like Abraham. The concept of being called the friend of God has fascinated me, consumed hours of thinking, and made its way to the top of my prayer list numerous times.

Another character I have prayed to be like is Job. Call it stupidity, foolishness, or a childlike perception, but what made its way into my prayers has not been a desire for trials… but a desire to be recognized by God as Job was, as someone with whome “no one like him [was found] on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” (Job 1:8)

I’ve had trials in my life. [Who hasn’t?]   However, at a variety of points throughout my lifetime, I have definitely questioned whether God had answered my prayer,…. and I was like Job, being assailed by the devil.  Although that was how I have felt in moments of feeling overwhelmed, it has helped with keeping an eternal perspective on more times than one.

If I am being assailed as Job was, what kind of response should I have?

Job 1:21-22:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, 
And naked I shall return there.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

If I am being assailed as Job was, what can I learn from Job’s mistakes?

Job 42:1-6:

Then Job answered the LORD and said,

² “I know that You can do all things,
And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
³ ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand,
Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”
⁴ ‘Hear, now, and I will speak;
I will ask You, and You instruct me.’
⁵ “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear;
But now my eye sees You;
⁶ Therefore I retract,
And I repent in dust and ashes.”

If I am being assailed as Job was, how can I glorify God in the most-desperate, overwhelming, and unlikely circumstances?

Job 13:15:  “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.”

If I am being assailed as Job was, how can my life prove to both Satan and his demons just how powerful God is as well as how dedicated my love and gratitude to Christ is?

Job 2:3:

“Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity, although you incited Me against him to ruin him without cause.”

Rather recently, however, I actually thought something new….

“I feel like I have it worse than Job.”

I had to bite my tongue immediately as I thought through the trials of Job’s life. I am so wrong to think so highly of myself to be privileged with a trial larger than Job’s. I know I have so much to learn spiritually (and otherwise).

I am so foolish to think that amidst my petty concerns and the personal trials I face day-to-day, that I have surpassed the blessings of the trials of Job. I realize this most of all in the reading of Job 2.  Amidst all of Job’s trials and discomforts, the one person in his life that he should have been able to depend on for support said the following:

Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!”

Wow.

No, I have nothing to complain about.  I have a wonderful husband who is the furthest thing from Job’s wife amidst the trials of my our life.  He stands by as a loyal and loving companion, shoulder to lean on, counselor, confidant, friend, and spiritual leader. No, I have nothing to complain about.

Not only do I have a wonderful godly husband but I have friends and Christian family much unlike Job’s. As opposed to Job’s who accused of Job of sin and offered no comfort, I have wonderful, Godly friends who offer prayer, comfort, assistance, encouragement, and love.

So, the next time I feel like Job, surrounded by trials and bereaved by struggles and pains, I pray that I will stop and take a closer look at the whole account of Job in order to remember all that I do have and all that God has blessed me with.