Job CCCLIV

 When Job’s life began to unravel, and everything that could go wrong went wrong and then some, he made an often-quoted statement that, at the time, had no proof of concept beyond his current lot. He summarized what had occurred in his life thus far, acknowledging the reality of it without bitterness, resentment, or animosity. He had no way of knowing how it would turn out, or that the Lord would give him twice as much as he had before, but was at peace with the reality that the Lord is sovereign; He does as He wills, and whether He gives or takes, His name is blessed in equal measure. “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Yes, the Lord had given, and He had taken away, and even in the taking, Job was resolute in blessing the name of the Lord, wholly unaware of how the drama would unfold, how it would play out, and how it would eventually end.

Job never saw himself as the star of his own show, the nexus of his universe, or the linchpin of this narrative. Job saw himself as a servant, one whose desire was intimacy with his Master, and whatever his Master deemed the best course, whether in the valley or on the mountaintop, He was deserving of praise.

Did he at times grow weary? Most assuredly, any man would, but through it all Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. There is a reason beyond our understanding when our best-laid plans go sidewise, seemingly in an instant, and if our faith is not cemented in the truth of who God is, and we are serving a projection of who we would like God to be, despondency, gloom, and hopelessness are sure to pay us a visit and stay for a while.

The same God who took away can restore, and doubly so, just as easily as He took away. That’s His purview; it’s under His control, and the only thing we have agency over is how we react to the trials, the hardships, the setbacks, and the valleys. What is my attitude in the valley? Is it the same as it would be on the mountaintop? How do I react to failure? Is it with the same words of blessing and praise to the Lord on my lips as would have been had I succeeded?

If your praise, adoration, worship, obedience, and faithfulness are contingent on outcome, if you only praise Him when things are going well, or serve Him when you have not a care in the world, that’s not true and abiding faith. It is a reaction to a perceived favor, and the continuation of that fealty is not rooted in love, but fear that the favor you’ve been shown would be removed were you to reveal your true self. God already knows your true self. He knows if you serve Him out of love or obligation. He knows whether your loyalty is dependent on anything other than what He’s already done to save you from the mire and reconcile you to Him.

God knew Job. He knew his heart; He knew his intentions; He knew his innermost desire, and the sincerity with which he yearned to be in His presence. God knew that Job’s fealty wasn’t feigned, that he wasn’t faking it until he made it, or pretending to desire more of God, hoping He wouldn’t see through his charade and bless him even more. His desire for more of God superseded all else in His life, and as long as God’s presence was evident, he could abide anything.

Even with all that he’d been through, the one thing that Job insisted he could not abide was God’s silence and the absence of His presence. He’d endured the loss of all his material possessions, had borne the pain of burying his children, had gritted his teeth in the face of the pain he was in, but the one thing that was too much for him to contend with was God’s silence.

Testing and trial reveal one’s innermost heart. If the heart is singularly focused on being pleasing in the sight of the Lord, on growing in Him and knowing Him more fully, then nothing that life may bring will detour you from that singular purpose.

It answers the ever-present question of why some men can stand in the midst of the tempest, while others get bowled over by the softest breeze. Those who endure and manage to stand, coming through fire all the stronger for it, not only have a right understanding of what the purpose of this life is, but pursue God and Him alone. They don’t chase after fortune nor fame; they don’t desire to be known or leave their mark on the world, but simply to serve, follow, and obey.

The idea that coming to Jesus is a guarantee of ease and comfort for the rest of one’s life, or that life will be lived on easy mode for the rest of your days, isn’t just unbiblical but contrary to the words of Jesus Himself. If that’s the Jesus you’ve been sold, if that’s the pitch that stirred you to respond in the affirmative to the call, you will be shaken at the first wave that barrels into your boat, or the first unexpected trial that surfaces seemingly out of nowhere.

If Job’s hope rested in the things he possessed rather than in God, his story would have ended very differently. If he’d equated health, wealth, prosperity, and favor with being in right standing with the Almighty, he too would have questioned his uprightness just as his friends had. If Job served God only in the good times, he would have turned his back on God after the second or third wave that came to wash away everything he’d spent a lifetime building. But Job was a blameless and upright man, who feared God, and shunned evil. Try as he might, there was nothing the devil could do to dampen his resolve or cause him to charge God with wrong. He had a right understanding of who God was, the right attitude when facing adversity, and the right heart, desiring nothing more than the presence of God. Oh, that we would have the wisdom of Job.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.