Job 1:18-21 “While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother’s house: And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to thee. Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Job represents a believing Christian, who in spite of going through a time of suffering, still remains consecrated to his God. His knowledge and his love to God who he personally knew, gave him the strength to remain faithful, even on such a terrible day. There are days which we refer to as good days, and we also experience days which are bad days. This times are like storms, they come and they go again.

Every person experiences these types of days, in which they are confronted head on with problems and needs. This is also a natural part of life on this earth. It is nothing new for a person to experience such days, everyone goes through them. No one is living in Disneyland or in Wonderland. Life is so very real, just like the good and the bad days. Paul says, “Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.” He, as a spiritual man, gives this advice to the Church, for he is viewing things with spiritual eyes.

It was at different times of the day that one servant after the other came, each one of them bearing bad news for Job. He had lost all of his material possessions in one go. As if that was not bad enough, the worse news for Job arrived with the last servant; and he said, “All your 7 sons and your 3 daughters were buried under the rubble of the house which collapsed. They are all dead; I am only the one who survived, in order to tell you.”

This was not a good day, on the contrary, it was a bad day. However, what did Job do when he heard this? The Scriptures tell us, “Then Job arose…” My dear friend, there are times in which we must stand up and fight like Job. When problems come, many react in different ways. Some reach for the bottle. Others let themselves be overtaken by the problems and do not do anything about them. Then there are those who complain and point their finger accusingly at God. Then there are those, on the other hand, who hope that their problems will eventually get solved by themselves. And then there are yet others who do not care about anything; and they think that there is plenty of time for things to get sorted out. There are also those who are like Job, they stand up, in order to do something. The most sensible thing to do, is to do something like Job did; however, there is only a small minority that do that. In the same manner as Job, they take their burdens to God in prayer. This man stood up, he did some things to show that he was in mourning about his loss, and then he immediately worshipped God. It did not matter to him about what he had just done and who was standing close by. The level of spirituality within a person is best demonstrated when a need arises.

Job did the one right thing in that moment. He just left everything standing, thanked God, first of all, for that which he had received from Him; and then confessed:
God has given: My entire wealth is from Him. My sons and daughters - God has given them to me. My servants and maids - God has given them to me. And it was also within the power of God’s hands, to take them away from me again.
And God has taken: It is not the devil who has taken it, although he was the cause of it. Satan made accusations against him out of envy and wickedness. Job did not utter one single word, which would have given credit to the devil for his problems.

For the devil, that is, the evil spirits do not boast about good deeds, but rather they boast about their evil deeds. Job knew that all which he had, he had received by the grace of God! Job had faith; these were his thoughts: And because my life is consecrated to God and because I am living holy and righteous before God, my life is completely in God’s hands. Everything that I face in life, I accept it as coming from His hand. If the adversary should happen to take something by force, then it is only because God had allowed him to so. It does not necessarily mean that God is glad about it. And Job arose: We have opportunities in our life, whereby we can and must stand up; woe to him who does not get up, but rather remains seated. Job did not ask anyone what he should now do, he went straight to God in prayer and in worship. Whoever has problems should go to God in prayer! “Is any among you afflicted? Let him pray. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms.” James 5:13. “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” 1 Pet 5:7 * It is not written: Casting all your cares upon one another. Talk about them the whole day, just think about your cares. No, but rather: “Stand up and overcome them!” rw