Don’t be scared of Job

I have always been a little scared to read the book of Job. I have read it but it is definitely not a book in the bible that I frequently read. It was like I had a hidden fear if I read it I would end up having my own Job experience, I definitely didn’t want that so when I got an overwhelming desire to read Job I was rather surprised at myself.

I had bought myself a new bible, an NLT bible. I had grown up reading NKJV as that was the first bible I was ever given by my parents however I had purchased a NLT and decided to read it cover to cover along with my other bible study reading. I was getting closer and closer to Job and was looking forward to reading this book. Weird, I know.

As I was reading Job I felt like I could understand some of the things he was crying out to God about. I wonder if we actually do all have our own personal Job experiences in our lives, obviously not to the extreme that Job did, but those times when we really feel like God has left us too it, He has stepped away and taken a ‘hands off approach.’ You are crying out to God and getting silence in return. Praying prayers that just seem to have no reply and all you are hearing is nothing!

Job 30:20 – “I cry to you, O God, but you don’t answer. I stand before you, but you don’t even look.” (NLT)

The situation you are in just keeps getting worse and it feels like your prayers are falling on deaf ears. You are doing all you know to do, believing God, having faith, praying, yet things are just going from bad to worse, even when you are in the middle of doing what God has told you to do?

However the overpowering message of Job is that God restores.

Job 42:10 – “When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before.” (NLT)

Yes, there may be times when it feels like the enemy has free reign in your life, but God is still there. He never takes His eye off you or lets you go from under His protection. God can and will restore all the enemy has stolen.

Job 42:12 – “So the Lord blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning.” (NLT)

There is a time and season for everything, and all seasons will come to an end, even the ones that seem to be dragging on forever.
Sometimes we travel a path we never expected to take and the journey along the way is so unexpected that we end up somewhere we never thought we would be.

Situations change, people aren’t who we thought they were, plans didn’t go the way we thought they would and every time something comes against us, a piece of us can get changed, hurt, stolen, or be affected.

It shouldn’t be a surprise then when we realise a toll has been taken. We may all go through our own personal Job experiences, but I have found a very important key is in the “how” you go through these times. As I was reading Job I saw some things that really stood out to me.

Key 1. How we go through the tough times.

If we can be like Job and not curse God and try to place the blame on Him, we too can come through these times blessed. Job didn’t curse God.

Job 1:22 – “In all this, Job did not sin by blaming God.”

Job 2:9 – “ His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.”

Job didn’t place blame on others, yes he questioned God but that is one of the best things he did, he went through this time in close communication with God.

Job continued to talk to God, God answered and Job listened. There is a big lesson here. Listen. Take the time to listen, don’t just throw your quick request, complaint, whinge at God then carry on with your day. The answer is in prayer, talk to God about it then listen for His answer. Don’t make it a one sided conversation. Wait for His answer.

We need to do the same, instead of running from God, run to Him. Keep praying, keep Him close and listen to what He is telling you to do.

Yes it has been hard, Yes, we have lost things along the way, Yes it has changed us but look for what you have learnt, look for the blessing. Nothing is wasted in God, there is a reason for everything, you may find out what it was or you may not but God loves you and He will never leave you or forsake you.

You too can “be blessed in the second half of your life more than in the beginning.”
I have come to understand that it is in the “how.” How we go through these times of struggle, how much we trust God, how much we go through it with Him, how strong we are, how much faith we have, how much do we really believe in God, how much God is revealed in us. How much we listen, and how much we act on what we hear God say.

Key 2. Who you listen to.

Another key in Job is to be careful who you listen to. Jobs friends where there to comfort him and support him but God tells them off.

Job 42:7 – After the Lord had finished speaking to Job, he said to Eliphaz the Temanite: “I am angry with you and your two friends, for you have not spoken accurately about me, as my servant Job has.”

In our time of need it can make us feel better to off load on our friends however we need to make sure we have wise council. I’m sure Job’s friends meant well but they didn’t speak accurately. They played the ‘blame game’ accusing Job of doing something wrong.

Job 15: 1-5 – “A wise man wouldn’t answer with such empty talk! You are nothing but a windbag. The wise don’t engage in empty chatter. What good are such words? Have you no fear of God, no reverence for him? Your sins are telling your mouth what to say.”

You do not need someone pointing out all your fears and failures when you are going through something that maybe just maybe is not your fault. Maybe it is something that God is allowing you to go through for your own benefit.

Yes, it is important to get Godly advice, but make sure it is advice that lines up with what the word says. Sometimes I think it is better to go through things on our own with God than get the wrong advice. God is all we need. I know from personal experience that God is my refuge and strength, my hiding place, my safe refuge and He is all I need. Listen to what God is saying to you.

Key 3. Job didn’t make it all about him.

Job 42: 10 – “When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!”

When God said for Job to pray for his friends he did and God restored his fortunes. Job wasn’t completely caught up in himself. He prayed for his friends, he took his eyes off himself and his situation and put someone else first and that is when God blessed him. There has got to be something in that. We shouldn’t be so wrapped up in ourselves and our situations that we don’t reach out to others or do what God is telling us to do because that was actually something God had told Job to do. Again Job is listening to God, not making it all about him and he is moving forward. I think the overwhelming message of Job is God restores. You can get through anything if you go through it with God.

What are you running from that God wants you to turn around and run towards? Coming into this new year of 2017, what do you finally need to turn and face? Stop running, stop putting it off, stop thinking it will go away, turn around and with God right there beside you, face it, deal with it and leave it there.

Walk into this ‘new year’ with purpose, with passion, without those things dragging you down. Walk free into all that God has for you. We all have an amazing future in God, He has such great plans for us and we need to be willing to trust Him, build our faith and walk into that future dealing with the things He asks us too along the way.

If He has called you to it, He will equip you through it. Get God’s peace about your situation. Don’t be anxious for He is your God. He will strengthen you and uphold you through it. Seen or unseen God goes with us. Just because God is silent doesn’t mean He is absent. Trust Him. He will restore you, better than before.

Don’t be scared of Job!