Reading: Job 1 & 2, 1 Corinthians 10:13, 1 Peter 1:6-8

Job is a man that far outlived any other in his time. God gives a testimony of his uprightness; how blameless he was, how he feared God and how he hated evil. He lived such a life that heaven couldn’t ignore but testify of how different he was. His affluence and spiritual zeal painted a picture of “all is well with the righteous” until hell broke loose on our righteous brother.

When Satan obtained access to Job’s life and messed up with his wealth and worse still his health, it must have been a dark day for the man of God. Things happened so fast and all that was attached to his name was gone in just a short span of time. It might have been bearable to hear that enemies stole away his donkeys and oxen and killed the shepherds, but I bet it was a little  tough for Job to take in the fact that fire actually fell from heaven and consumed his sheep  and shepherds! The enemies who took away his camels and killed his servants he would have pursued but how about the wind that blew from the wilderness hitting his eldest son’s house and killing all his children? It didn’t even make sense. At this point, it was like both God and the devil were fighting him. Job couldn’t bring himself to understand what exactly he had done wrong. Was God still in heaven watching all that happen? It was too much to bear but even amidst it all Job never sinned against God either by word or action. In His distress, all he did was fall down and worship God because his worship wasn’t attached to the material things he had. He had come to the place of separating his blessings from their source and that is why his worship still rose up to God even in the deepest anguish of his soul. Even as his skin wasted away and his wife deserted faith, Job never blamed God.

In life, there are times when what comes to you may seem like it is too much to handle. Times when like Job you will wonder where God is and why He would allow the devil to afflict you, your family, business or ministry even when you have not sinned. Times  that will leave you torn in between repenting every known and unknown sin or rolling up your sleeves and staging  warfare against the enemy because it is unclear where your battles are coming from. It is during these times when you may not even be sure of God’s love because you will find it hard to believe that you are still the apple of His eye (Zech 2:8) or even whether your name is still engraved on the palm of His hand!(Isaiah 49:16)

If you find yourself in such a place, first of all you take it off your mind that trouble came to you because you have sinned against God. Well of course that does not give a license to sin because if you cherish sin you give a sure foothold to the enemy to attack you. Secondly, remember that the righteous are never meant to walk by sight rather by faith (Heb 10:38) and if you react and make decisions based on what you see and the reports you hear, you will no doubt fail the test. It may look like God has abandoned you but in actual sense He is working out something in you. As you walk through that dark valley without giving up on Him or even losing your faith, He looks down and smiles at a loyal child that would not deny Him no matter what. Of course He doesn’t take pleasure in your pain but He knows that pain is a test of how genuine your faith is .(1Peter 1:6-8) He allows trouble to come to you because He knows you have the capacity to go through the fire and like Daniel, Meshach and Abednego come out even without the smell of smoke! As job prostrated in worship, what a pleasure God derived from a heart fully yielded and surrendered to Him! A sweet fragrance of worship rising from a tempted righteous man who chose to rise above his devastating circumstances. I can only imagine how devastated Satan must have been because his mission had failed terribly!

Dear Child of God, what has come to you is not meant to destroy you. What you are going through is not strange or uncommon; other brothers and sisters out here have gone through or are going through the same right now. It may seem too much for you to bear, but God has faith in you that you are well able to overcome and in addition He has provided a way out for your exit (1 Cor 10:13).Whatever happens, don’t lose your faith. Remain unmoved no matter what. Do not complain or even think that God has forsaken you. Whatever scenario life brings you, may you never fail to find a reason to worship God. As you make up your mind to deliberately retaliate to a position of deep worship unto God, you are actually positioning yourself for a victorious comeback.

Weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning (Psalm 30:5).However, I challenge you; do not just weep without faith. Tears do not move God. Faith is what pleases God. (Heb 11:6) Like Job, couple your tears with deep worship that rises as a sweet smelling aroma before God because the strength, peace and resilience you need to walk through the dark road you are on is only found at the throne of grace . Weep if you must, but amidst your tears, soak yourself in the presence of God as you bless the Name of the Lord because that is where  you will be well equipped to walk through that valley of the shadow of death and come out of the other side victorious with a song of praise and triumph.

No matter what, blessed be The Name of the Lord!

Selah