Monday, January 9, 2012

Foundation of rock or sand?

Job 1, 2 and Matthew 7
Job, a blameless and upright man, who feared God and shunned evil;  how many of us would be described in such a wonderful way?  I wonder would it be a lot or a few?

If I were to ask you to name a song that describes your house right now, would it be perhaps be one of the following:  Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Stormy Weather, or Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen?  Any of these fit where you are right now?  I wonder what Job would say?  I mean things were going along swimmingly until the devil got involved!  Isn’t that always the case?  I mean Job’s life was going really great and suddenly everything went out the window.
Isn’t that the way it is?  We are going along things are super dooper and suddenly your world collapses?  Job had to feel that way and yet in Job 1:21 these are his words –
…The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.
Did I read that right?  Praise?  How?  Job is such a wonderful man and God knew it in His heart, so He allowed the devil to play havoc.  Which seems odd to me in so many ways and yet what a testimony Job had for the world about how awesome God was and is in his life.  He was praising God and yet he had lost his children, his livestock, his servants and yet he worshipped God.
The devil still isn’t satisfied and in chapter 2 he gives Job sores from head to toe.  Covered and is no longer recognizable to his friends.  Job was so awful to look at that his friends wept and tore their robes.  Imagine it.  You wake up one day everything rosy and then everything in a moment is no longer the same…Chapter 2 verse 10, Job is speaking to his wife and he says these words –
You are talking like a foolish woman.  Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?  In all  of this Job did not sin in what he said.  I love Job and what he teaches each of us.  Always praise God and always remember who God is!  Job built his foundation strongly in the LORD!  He knew who God was and is and is foundation was not going to crumble.  Oh it might tilt, it might get a crack in the wall, but it would not come down!
I thought it was so appropriate that today we read from Matthew about our foundations.  Are we building our foundation on rock or sand?  Are we learning God’s Word, so that when our world seems to fall apart we will know in our hearts exactly who God is and will continue to be and that He will get us through.  We can call His Name and He will answer and take care of us.  Will He know us before the bad things happen?  Will we experience His mighty arms holding us tightly so that we remember exactly who our rock is?
Oh it is my prayer that we all will!  Difficult times are coming and we are not promised otherwise and the only way through is holding onto Our Savior.   We are told in this same chapter in Matthew 7, ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.  WE must ask.  WE must make the move towards God.  He wants us to pick HIM!  He wants us to KNOW HIM!  Choose God.  We must show our faith and believe God and Job is an example for each of us to follow and learn from about praising God even in those very awful, difficult times.
Allow God’s Light to shine brightly through you even in the difficult times like Job.
Sweet blessings,
Debbie

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have known some Jobs in my lifetime and remain in awe of their faith! God has been so kind to me and my prayer is to remain strong in faith as Job demonstrated if or when life's difficulties arise. God is so good. Today and everyday, I thank Him!

Frankie said...

In the reading today, I really admire that the friends sat with Job for seven days and nights without saying a word, because they saw how great his suffering was. That sounds like some friends to me!