Trusting in God no matter what

Job 13:13-16 (NLT)

“Be silent now and leave me alone.  Let me speak, and I will face the consequences.  Yes, I will take my life in my hands and say what I really think.  God might kill me, but I have no other hope.  I am going to argue my case with Him.  But this is what will save me—I am not godless.  If I were, I could not stand before Him.”

You know the story of Job, how he lost his entire family and home because of a “deal” God made with Satan (read the first chapter).  When I first heard or saw the name “Job” in the Bible, I remember thinking, “what an odd name”.  And of course I originally pronounced his name like we pronounce our work.  However, his name is pronounced “Joe—b” and his name in the Hebrew can mean “the persecuted one”.

Job tells his three so-called friends to stop talking and leave him alone.  They had been trying to explain to Job why God caused all his suffering.  Up until this passage, Job had been expressing rebellion against God and asking that he die.  Now he declares his trust in God no matter what.  If God wants him to die, fine, but even if that is what God wills, Job will still trust Him.  And, to his friends, he feels wronged by them and does not accept their views that his suffering was on account of God punishing him for being a sinner.    

It’s a horrible thought, but think for a moment how you would react if you learned that all of your family had perished in some terrible accident.  You would be in total despair.  I recall many years ago when I lived in Chicago that a small airplane had crashed into Lake Michigan.  The husband and father was the pilot and survived, but his wife and three children all were killed.  Within a week after this horrible accident, the man could not continue to live and killed himself.  He could not face his tragedy as Job faced his.  Who knows what you or I would do if a tragedy like this happened to us? 

Job is our biblical example of a man  of extreme despair and sorrow who did not give up his faith in God, but rather declared openly his faith that his life was in God’s hands.  Yes, he could cry and complain and ask why all these horrible events happened to him, especially being as faithful as he was, but he also declared that his faith would not change.  He would continue to live his life as he had, talking with God, pleading with God, questioning God, but he would also continue to depend on God and His promises no matter what.  Job is an excellent example of “letting go and letting God”.

While you likely will never experience the tragedies that Job experienced, you still will experience your own kinds of struggles, disappointments, and sufferings.  When you do, may your faith be so strong that nothing will separate you from your love for and reliance upon God.

"Patience is more than endurance. A saint's life is in the hands of God like a bow and arrow in the hands of an archer. God is aiming at something the saint cannot see, and He stretches and strains, and every now and again the saint says--'I cannot stand anymore.' God does not heed, He goes on stretching till His purpose is in sight, then He lets fly. Trust yourself in God's hands. Maintain your relationship to Jesus Christ by the patience of faith. 'Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him." — Oswald Chambers