Last Sunday I spoke about the storms in our life. Jesus didnt say we would just maybe have storms. Or we might have storms. He said they would come. So I spoke on how to weather your storm. As I got all my stuff together for Sunday, I ran across many books of the bible that were stormy books. Lamenations is one big raging mass of a storm. Ecclesiastes has its portions of grey clouds. And even the book of Psalms doesnt look so great on the storm radar in places. But none speak better of weathering a storm as much as the story of Job. Most of us know this book very well due to those Sunday school teachers we all had when we were young. I had read this book many times myself (usually when going through something stormy…after reading about Job’s losses your problem doesnt really seem that big of a deal afterwards!) I read something though this time that caught my attention that I had never seen before…it’s in Chapter 1 verses 9 and 10 and it is an interaction between God and Satan…Satan is just laying it on God:
Job 1:9 (The Message)
9-10 Satan retorted, “So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can’t lose!
What Satan is really saying to God is “Job serves you and is faithful to you only out of self-intrest.” He is even further charging God with being naive. I can just see Satan pointing a crooked finger at God and hissing through his teeth mocking and laughing at God saying “You think Job loves you…dont you?” Even though this story happens early in existance of the World, Satan knows all to well the weakness, hidden agendas and thought process’ of the carnal flesh known as man. He, in a nutshell, is telling God “Turn off the faucet of blessing…and watch how fast Job slams shut his faucet of devotion”
I have wrestled and even been convicted of that last statement this week. In searching my own life I began to realize that times when it “seemed” that the faucet of blessing was turned to a slow trickle…how quick I was to slam shut the faucet of devotion. This happens all too much to people who claim to “let God have control of everything in their lives.” It’s easy to praise and give…live with a smile on our face…connect with God regularly…and be happy when everything around us is firing on all cylinders. But most of the time when a storm comes…those of us (I’m guilty too) who claim to trust, rely and give God control of all things…seem to be very angry and very distant from God. My challenge this week is that we first of all understand and know that God is working in everything…even the bad. Understand that most of the time our perspective of the situation is usually a postage stamp view of God’s huge expansive perspective for our lives. And that storms will come, but know, realize and rely in the fact that we serve the one true God, who speaks to the storm, and calms the raging seas.
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