Satan Allowed to Test Job
13 Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the [g]donkeys feeding beside them, 15 and [h]the Sabeans [i]attacked and took them. They also [j]slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and [k]I alone have escaped to tell you.” 16 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 17 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and [l]slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.” 18 While he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
20 Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 21 He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he [m]blame God.
Job fell to the ground and… what?! That should say wept, or wailed, or anything else, but “worshiped”? How many of us experience something tragic and say, “Oh, bless God! Praise His name!” Also interesting, is that Job didn’t dwell on the Democrats or Republicans… I mean, the Sabeans or the Chaldeans and blame them for all this trouble.
Instead, he recognized that God was in control, no matter how things looked in the physical realm. If there was anyone to “blame” it was God. Yet God owed him nothing, and anything he had was “on loan” from God, and could disappear in an instant. And it did.
Job is the poster child for un-entitlement. The hard reality is that “this world” owes us nothing, and God owes us death. But God in his infinite mercy and love withholds what we deserve. Instead, God extends to us the free gift of life. Not just breath in our lungs as we walk this earth, but eternal life with Him at the center.
Certainly, he might give us other gifts in this life, but he will give us no more than we can handle, which is also a mercy. God knows what is best for us, and we can trust Him to bring good things out of tragedy. So when life gives you lemons… bless His name. And then trust God to make the lemonade.