Job 1: Praising the Lord

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. 
Job 1:21-22
Today’s scripture reading comes from Job 1. 
How do we handle the grief of losing everything we have? When we think about the circumstances that arose for Job having lost everything that is of value to him on earth, how would you have reacted? how many of us would have been able to practice the amount of humility and self-control that Job had?  Within a matter of minutes, Job had lost almost everything he had. His children and servants were murdered, and his grandest possessions were pillaged and burned to the ground.
What would our first response be? would we forsake God and turn away from him? Some of us may turn away and say to God: “If you were real, you wouldn’t let this sort of thing happen!”, “if you truly loved me, then how could you do this to me?” Some would either deny the existence of God, or turn our backs against him and rebel. If we look closely at this first chapter, there is a peculiar conversation between Satan and the Lord. God permits Satan to have a hack at Job! Some of us may look at this passage and begin to think that God is cruel.  How could he allow Satan to test Job of such pain. Why not stop him? is this not terribly irresponsible and passive? It would be so easy for us to be outraged by God’s reaction or proposal. But no, how much more of a fool was made out of Satan through the example of Job. But it is evident that God knew Job. He knew his faith and his devotion. He also knew that he feared him more than the terrors that Satan could possibly bring.
Most of us would never be able to fathom the pain Job had gone through, but yet it is so difficult to grasp His reaction and humility. We may forsake or deny God because of the loss of a single friend or family member, or the failure of an exam. But how do we praise the Lord when such grieving events are compounded back to back, and we have nothing left as Job had. He neither denies God, nor forsakes him. Even when compounding events had knocked down Job limb by limb. But that only meant he would fall face down and worship the Lord. Where he felt most weak in the knees, and weak at heart, he clung to God and trusted in Him. He trusted in God’s grace and power. He also trusted in God’s salvation and that whatever he so possessed in this lifetime he would not be able to take with him after this life either.
Praising the Lord should not only happen when we are feeling good. It certainly should not just happen when we feel like it or compelled to. It certainly should not just happen at church or when a great band is playing. Praising the Lord must take place in rejoicing, sorrow, and even anger and grief. We praise the Lord because even when all is lost in this life, we still have the Lord – that over all people and possessions we have on this earth, we love the Lord more than them.
Thus today, even if your circumstances are grim and difficult, will you still choose to worship the Lord? Though your heart may be troubled, take time to remember how troubled the Father was when he would need to turn away from his only Son to die on the cross for our sins. He knows your pain, and he is even there with you in the midst of those times. May you find rest in His presence and be comforted and assured by the resurrection –  salvation made out for you in Jesus Christ.