Job

Job was a righteous man... God loved him and he loved God... he was prosperous... he had a good life... all in a few days... the enemy went to God to say that Job only loved God because of what God has given him and done for him.. God knew that was not true so he allowed satan to 'test' Job.. to take everything from him slowly... even his health.. he lost his possessions.. he lost his children.. he lost his health... and on top of all that misery his wife tells him to just curse God and die.. which he still will not do... despite what he feels... or what has been done to him..

then he has 3 friends who have determined to come and ride this out with him.. off and on... and tell him that he needs to figure out what his sin is and to repent from it so that God will be good to him again... and he has thought and prayed and he is sure that he has not done anything that he has not asked forgiveness of.. he doesn't know what is wrong.. or why this is happening.. but he knows he has been true to God...

what about us... have you ever been in a situation where you have not sinned.. yet you are persecuted.. you cannot leave the situation... you get no reprieve from the pain it causes you... and you wonder where God is.. you don't doubt Him.. you just wonder why you have to go through this... it doesn't seem fair.. but God is not fair.. He did not ask you what you felt when He chose you... He just determined that you will walk through it...

and while we wonder if there is any end in sight... look to chapter 40 where the voice of God comes to Job... I have no idea how long it takes to get to 40 chapters... but I know it is a long time in my own life... and I am not at chapter 40 yet.. where God takes me out of this darkness where I cannot see and I cannot hear and I have to rely on what He said while it was still light... I have to believe that God is not a man who changes His mind as the scripture says... He will stand true to what He said and by my chapter 42... just like Job... God will restore me... at this point.. all I really need is the lights turned back on... I would be thankful for God's hand of blessing but more important to me than that would be the sound of His voice... the touch of His love... that is what I really desire to be restored... as I am sure Job did too... yet God will give us so much more than what we need if we will only be faithful till He gives us the relief that we need...

trust God.. even on the hard days... it will be to your benefit...