We parents and grandparents always show off and share the children’s pictures and achievements. We can’t seem to get enough of them; we’ll share with all who listen, even if they don’t care. The most important thing is that we care.
God is no
different; we got our caring nature from Him. If you are a child of
God, He knows what you are capable of because His power 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 always stay ready because you don’t know when God will 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 amid the storm and fight until the end. Now He is waiting to
tell them, “I told you so!” Will you grant Him the opportunity to prove again that He knows the power 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 stolen, and the helpers
killed; second, out of nowhere came fire that burned the sheep and the
shepherds. Third, the camels had been stolen, and the servants were 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 would 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 used 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 Him. If we
stand firm when God gives and then takes away, He has made His point that we
still love Him with or without stuff. But He can also 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, allowing us 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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