“Blessed be the name of the LORD”
Job 1:21-22
Job had seven sons and three daughters. He was also a rich man. He possessed 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 female donkeys, and very many servants, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the east (Job 1:3). If he were to live today, he would probably own several Lamborghinis, a mansion (or rather a castle), several properties in several countries and cities around the world. In fact, he would have been the headline of most newspapers. Though a rich man, he was a blameless, upright man who feared the LORD, a person who turned away from evil (Job 1:1). Not only this, Job also feared that his children might sin and so he offered burnt offerings for them all.
But disaster befell him suddenly. He lost everything he had, including his sons and daughters within a day.
When we lose something, how do we react? More often than not, we are tempted to curse God, and we hate everyone else.
But how did Job react? He said, “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” (Job 1:21). What a righteous man he was indeed!
We have so many things to learn from Job today. Do we lose something? Let’s look at Job. As for us, we praise the LORD when we see good times; but when bad times come, we sulk, we feel depressed and we move far away from the LORD. What a contrast! How low a standard!
Job knew that it has been the LORD who had given him all that he had. He acknowledged the LORD in totality. He said “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away.” He didn’t say these words while he was in possession of everything he wanted. He said these words when he was at the throes of death.
Let us also seek the LORD, remembering Him for his grace and acknowledging Him in everything we do. We thought everything we have belong to us. No. It belongs to the LORD. Our lives do not belong to us, it belongs to the LORD. Who is it that said, “It’s my life!”
Job was covered in boils (or loathsome sores) all over his body. He took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself while sitting in the ashes. Just imagine having one on your back! Job had it all over his body! Meanwhile, his wife kept on pestering him saying, “do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die” (Job 2:9). What a tempting thing it must have been for Job!
Additionally, Job’s friends came and said that all these happened because of Job’s sins.
In all these, the Bible says, “Job did not sin or charge God with wrong” (Job 1:22) and “did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:10). Oh, what a faithful man!
From this story of Job, we can see that we are to praise the LORD no matter what happens to us. We might not face or suffer what Job suffered. But we may also face different kinds of hardships in our lives and service to the LORD. We may be tempted to curse the LORD and others. But let us remember Job and his faithfulness always.
God is still the same today. Let us not ask where the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is. Rather, let us ask where the Abraham, Isaac or Jacob of God is today.
