Job 1:21 And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
Job is a man who endured great tribulation and hardship simply because God was bragging on him and satan was jealous of his relationship with God. In all of the hardships of Job he sinned not, nor charged God foolishly (vs.22). Job did not blame God but blessed God. He worshipped, praised and blessed His name. Too often when we face hardships we initially or eventually blame God for not protecting us from what we are going through but most of the time, if not always, God is producing in us a greater level of faith, belief and maturity. In every hardship there is a lesson to be learned, a new depth of faith to be reached and a higher plateau of praise to be lifted up. I learned this, like many of you, the hard way but I am so thankful for it now. A few years ago my family and I were going to build a home and we so desperately wanted to build and live in our dream home. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare and we never moved into that house. I asked God “why did this happen, why didn’t you protect us from this builder and all of the drama that followed?” God just told me to trust him. We trusted God and as always He is true to His word. A few months after this deal was settled, I got a call from the people who did buy the house. They informed me that they were suing the builder for numerous faulty building code errors and violations. The house was a “mess” I was told by the present owners. They also told me “be glad you did not buy this house.” I then heard God say “I was protecting you by not giving you what you wanted but what I wanted you to have.” I thanked God for home that he did allow us to purchase and for His protection from something far worse than I ever imagined. It would have been easy to blame God during this process but we didn’t we blessed His name. During that time I followed the command of God and started Spirit of God Christian Church and we have been praising Him daily. I learned a lot in that process. To never put anything in front of God’s work, to praise Him even when I don’t feel like it and to trust God’s plan for it always works out for our good (Romans 8:28). I want each of you to know that we all should praise God in the tough times just as we would in the great times. I told a friend of mine once who said that he did praise God in times of disappointment. I asked him but do you praise Him like you would if things had gone better than expected and he admitted that he did not. This is what we must work at doing because sometimes praising and blessing God is a sacrifice. It would be so easy to blame God and complain about or to God in times of hardship but let us follow Job’s and Jesus’ examples that show us no matter how difficult times may get God will bless us when we bless Him. Remember that God is teaching and growing us in these lean times in preparation for better days. Thank god for it all for it will produce greater things in you than even you thought were possible. Job received twice as much as he lost because he did not blame God but blessed the name of the Lord.
Challenge:
Ask God for forgiveness for the times you blamed Him (He will forgive you). Then begin to bless, praise and worship Him. Hold fast to God’s promises, trust Him to do His part in your life and do your part too; bless His name.
Job is a man who endured great tribulation and hardship simply because God was bragging on him and satan was jealous of his relationship with God. In all of the hardships of Job he sinned not, nor charged God foolishly (vs.22). Job did not blame God but blessed God. He worshipped, praised and blessed His name. Too often when we face hardships we initially or eventually blame God for not protecting us from what we are going through but most of the time, if not always, God is producing in us a greater level of faith, belief and maturity. In every hardship there is a lesson to be learned, a new depth of faith to be reached and a higher plateau of praise to be lifted up. I learned this, like many of you, the hard way but I am so thankful for it now. A few years ago my family and I were going to build a home and we so desperately wanted to build and live in our dream home. The dream quickly turned into a nightmare and we never moved into that house. I asked God “why did this happen, why didn’t you protect us from this builder and all of the drama that followed?” God just told me to trust him. We trusted God and as always He is true to His word. A few months after this deal was settled, I got a call from the people who did buy the house. They informed me that they were suing the builder for numerous faulty building code errors and violations. The house was a “mess” I was told by the present owners. They also told me “be glad you did not buy this house.” I then heard God say “I was protecting you by not giving you what you wanted but what I wanted you to have.” I thanked God for home that he did allow us to purchase and for His protection from something far worse than I ever imagined. It would have been easy to blame God during this process but we didn’t we blessed His name. During that time I followed the command of God and started Spirit of God Christian Church and we have been praising Him daily. I learned a lot in that process. To never put anything in front of God’s work, to praise Him even when I don’t feel like it and to trust God’s plan for it always works out for our good (Romans 8:28). I want each of you to know that we all should praise God in the tough times just as we would in the great times. I told a friend of mine once who said that he did praise God in times of disappointment. I asked him but do you praise Him like you would if things had gone better than expected and he admitted that he did not. This is what we must work at doing because sometimes praising and blessing God is a sacrifice. It would be so easy to blame God and complain about or to God in times of hardship but let us follow Job’s and Jesus’ examples that show us no matter how difficult times may get God will bless us when we bless Him. Remember that God is teaching and growing us in these lean times in preparation for better days. Thank god for it all for it will produce greater things in you than even you thought were possible. Job received twice as much as he lost because he did not blame God but blessed the name of the Lord.