We parents and grandparents are always showing off and sharing the children’s pictures and achievements. We can’t seem to get enough of them; we’ll share with all who’ll listen, even if they
God is no different; after all, we got our caring nature from Him. If you are a child of God, He knows what you are capable of, because it is His power that is at work in you. He brags about you confidently, because He knows you can do anything through Christ who strengthens you.
Are you ready? You have to stay ready all the time because you don’t know when God is going to want to prove to someone what you are made of. God is putting you on display, and waiting to rejoice over you with singing! Don’t let Him down.
How is He putting you on display? You know that issue you have going on: maybe health, finances, relationships, etc.? That’s how! He is telling people you won’t give in or give up; you will trust Him in the midst of the storm, and fight until the end. Now He is waiting to tell them, “I told you so!” Are you going to grant Him the opportunity to prove again that He knows the power that is at work in you? Don’t let Him down!
Job was a good man who feared God and stayed away from evil, and he was also very rich. He understood well the Scripture that says: “If your wealth increases, don’t make it the center of your life” (Psalm 62:10)., He was living the best way he knew how, when one day, without warning, tragedy struck! He got messages in succession: first, his farm had been raided, the animals had been stolen and the helpers killed; second, out of nowhere, there came a fire that burned the sheep and the shepherds. Third, the camels had been stolen and the servants killed. And as if all that wasn’t bad enough, the final blow came: all his children died when the house where they were partying collapsed (see Job 1:13-19).
God knew how devastating that kind of loss could be for anybody, but He was also confident Job was going to come through the ordeal with flying colors because He knew Job’s faith was genuine. Sure enough, Job grieved but he also worshiped! He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken away. Praise the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21) God indeed rejoiced over Job and was able to say to Satan, “I told you so!” His exact words to Satan about Job were: “He has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause” (Job 2:3). Job’s strength to endure this ordeal, of course, was not his own; his strength came from the Lord who made heaven and earth. God’s strength was available to him, and he made use of it.
How about you and me? Do we know and accept that whatever we have comes from God, and we are only stewards of those things? Job admitted that right away: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.” So, we cannot hold on too tightly to our life, health, family, job, possession, and whatever else we have. We need to be thankful for them while we have them, and use them wisely to honor God. If we stand firm when God gives and then takes away, He has made His point that we still love Him with or without the stuff. But He is also able to restore what He’s taken, as He did with Job (see Job 42:10-13). But if He doesn’t, He will still provide whatever we need for sustenance while we are in this life.
James admonishes us, “When troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow” (James 1:2-3). So, our trials accomplish at least two things, 1) God is putting us on display, and 2) our faith is tested, giving us the opportunity to grow. We need both of these things.
The next time God puts us on display, let’s not be discouraged, fearful, or depressed, but like Job, let’s worship and consider what God might be up to; let’s be a good sport and let Him win while our faith matures. And oh, others might also learn from it and be encouraged. Let’s be like mount Zion, standing firm and tall, come what may because we trust in the Lord (see Psalm 125:1).
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