Job's Joy

daytodayinhim
Feb 17, 2015
5 min read

I know what you are thinking: Job's joy...seriously? But let's take a look at Job's journey.

Job had a great life!

Job was a good man. He was righteous, blameless, upright, someone who feared God, and steered away from evil. He was also a good man to his family. He loved them and would rise early to offer burnt offerings to God on the behalf of his children because he knew they weren't right with God. (Job 1:1, 5)
Job had a wonderful life. He was blessed with seven sons, 3 daughters, 7 thousand sheep, 3 thousand camels, 500 yoke of oxen (1 thousand oxen total), 500 female donkeys, many servants, and he was considered the greatest man in the east. (Job 1:2-3 )

Satan wasn't so sure of Job's faithfulness BUT God was!

Satan crashes the party after "going to and fro on the earth". (Job 1:6-7)
God is confident in Job and begins to compliment him to Satan. (Job 1:8)
Satan rebuttles God explaining that he thinks God has over protected him, why wouldn't he be faithful to God? Satan then challenged God saying that Job would surely curse God if anything was taken away from him. (Job 1:9-11)
God had confidence in his servant that He told Satan, "...all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand". (Job. 1:12)

So...Satan went to work...

In a VERY short amount of time...Job lost what seemed to be EVERYTHING.
One by one, servants came to give him the bad news... (Job 1:13-19)
He lost some of his servants to the Sabeans by the sword.
He lost more of his servants and livestock.
He lost another mass of servants and livestock to the Chaldeans.
Finally, he lost all his children when the house fell on them.
Satan continues his work throughout the rest of the book of Job...
Satan attacks Job's health. (Job 2:1-8)
His wife turns against him and to "curse God and die". (Job 2:9-10)
Then there were his "friends" (Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar) who completely turned against him. They told him that he must have done something incredibly awful to deserve what was happening to him. They did not believe in his faithful heart. (Job 2:11-31:40)

Job wrestled with the idea that God wasn't with him. He was in a trial that seemed like it would never end. But, what was his response to all these things?

Job's response to losing his servants, livestock, and family (Job 1:20-22): "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."
Job's response to his wife's "advice" (Job 2:10): "'You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
Job's response to his "friends'" accusations and rejection: "'As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit. Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me. I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days'". (Job 27:2-6)

In all his trial, tribulation, lonely suffering, and despair he stayed near to the throne of God. And in the end Job was rewarded for his steadfastness...

Job 42:10, "...the LORD restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before."
Job 42:12, "...the LORD blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning."
14 thousand sheep, 6 thousand camels, 1 thousand yoke of oxen (2 thousand total), and 1 thousand female donkeys. (Job 42:12)
He had seven sons and three daughters. (Job 42:13)
He lived 140 years and saw four generations of his family. (Job 42:16)
"...Job died, an old man, and full of days." (Job 42:17)

So...here's the thing...I don't know about you but there are times when I fool myself into believing that my "trials" are worse than they seem. How many times do we in this day and time fool ourselves into thinking that our trials are too hard to bear and we begin to resent God for "not being there for us"? Because of our conveniences in our generation we think that paying our taxes, owing a large sum of money, having a dent in our car, or not getting our way is the END OF THE WORLD. Trust me, I have been guilty of wanting things to happen at a certain time and being frustrated when they don't come around. But here's the thing that we always forget, the thing that means the most, the thing that is hard to accept but beautiful when we accept it....

GOD HAS A PLAN FOR OUR LIVES!

Yikes! You mean I don't get to determine my life 24/7/365? I'm sorry but...nope...we are GOD's! But, think about it...would you rather have your life in the hand of anyone else? This is the creator of the universe we are talking about here! How can we even be so presumptuous as to think that our lives would be better in our hands? God had a plan for Job, He had a plan for Jesus, He had a plan for all the christians who were killed/persecuted, and HE HAS A PLAN FOR YOU AND ME! And I'm telling you...compared to those I named before we have it easy in the way of "trials". Job was stripped down to nothing and accused. Jesus was rejected, beaten, and killed. The early christians in the New Testament were killed for believing in and following Jesus. And heartbreakingly, there are people who are killed today for professing Christianity. Jeremiah 29:11 states, "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope". That message was delivered to God's people when they were in captivity. Even after punishing His people God wanted them to know He had a plan for them. My friends, our God has a plan for us. "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose". (Romans 8:28) We are called to HIS purpose and though our "trials" are temporary our heavenly reward will be everlasting. I pray that in our day to day lives, through our uncertain futures, and through our trials we find the joy of Job. That no matter what the circumstance may be, we are able to walk away saying "blessed be the name of the LORD".

I love this quote...

"I don't know what lies around the bend, but I'm going to believe that the best does."

- L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables