Blessed be the Name of the Lord, Part 1

Wow. I was just in the middle of writing this post, and the silly computer deleted it. How? I don't know. I was tempted to get mad, just quit, leave it for another day, something along those lines. But then I thought of what I had just been typing. But you don't know what I was typing, I guess:) so... take 2


What do you do when things don't go your way, when you're in trouble for something you didn't do, when you're in the middle of a trial and you can't see how it's going to work out? When you're thinking, "Yeah, I know God works out all things for good to those who love Him, but... How?!?!?!?" well, sometimes you react in anger. Or you get quiet, ignoring your siblings, parents, friends, or whoever else you might have who's trying to comfort you. Maybe you try to get attention, try to MAKE people give you comfort, or notice you, or whatever. Well, Job shows us what we SHOULD do. We should bless the Lord. Always. We should trust Him, and rely upon His goodness, righteousness, mercy, and I could go on and on! I will illustrate my point with a story. About Job, go figure! Our story starts out in heaven. God is on His throne, and all the people are praising Him, worshipping Him, and whatever else they do in heaven! Satan enters the scene. For some reason God mentions Job. He says he is a "blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil." Satan then tests the Lord by questioning Job's authenticity. Job is in a very good position. He's rich, he has ten kids, he has tons of animals, servants, food, all that you could wish for. Then comes the big statement (and here's satan, very sure of himself) "stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and surely he will curse You to Your face!" So God gives satan permission to harm Job's things, but NOT to touch his person. Now we switch backgrounds. (we're on earth now) Now here's Job, on a regular day, ordering around his servants, feasting, enjoying a nice morning just him and his wife (all his kids were at his oldest son's house feasting) and all of a sudden a messenger comes running to him, panting and out of breath, and delivers some bad news; "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were feeding by them, and then the Sabeans showed up and took them all! They killed all the servants that were in the field, and I alone have escaped to tell you!" Oh no! what now? Should I go and get back the oxen or would that be foolish- I maybe ate a little much for breakfast- but I really need that donkey...

Ok. It happened again. I accidentally deleted my post for the second time in a row! Thankfully Sophie knows what to do, so I ran to her to have her fix it:) now, back to the story:

As Job was thinking, another messenger runs up to him. Just like the first one, he's panting, tired of running, and he has a horrid look on his face. Job starts to wonder if something else is wrong. He was right. "I was out in the field with the sheep, me and my fellow shepherds, and I left for a couple minutes to, you know, uh, do my thing... anyway, I saw it all-- fire came down from heaven and burned up all the sheep and the servants! I alone have escaped to tell you!" Whoa, I wasn't expecting that! First the oxen and donkeys, now the sheep... and what am I supposed to do with that burnt field? Oh, no! Not another messenger! Maybe this time he has good news... no. Not by the look of THAT face! Wait, has this happened before?"I was feeding the camels, and then these Chaldeans came and raided the camels, kidnapping them (or is it camelnapping) and killed my friends with me! I alone escaped to tell you!" Oh my goodness! How long will this last? I don't think the day could get any worse... too bad. It can. Now we switch scenes again. This time imagine it for yourself: You're at your oldest brother's house with all your siblings, you just finished the third course, all is going well, you're telling jokes, having fun, and then you feel chilly. There is a slight breeze. It starts picking up. You reach for your jacket. Ok, this wind is getting out of hand! Your hair is blowing all over your face, things start blowing over, your cup falls in your lap (Ah! that's COLD!) and then you hear a creak! You look up. There is a big crack in the ceiling, right above you, it's breaking, falling... Ok, back to Job's house. He sees another messenger running to him... I don't have to repeat what he was like, do I? To sum it all up, the messenger was the lone survivor from the oldest brother's house and he told the whole story to Job. How do YOU think Job responded? Well, probably your guess was a little off. No offense:) But what happened was this: "Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshipped." Worshipped? Yes. He worshipped God! Hear what he said next: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD." verse 22 says "in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong." Ha Ha! Satan was wrong! Job did NOT curse the Lord, even when all ten of his kids were killed, when his servants were killed his animals stolen, still he did not curse the Lord. Way to go, Job!

To be continued next week...