So this weekend we had some of my cousins for a few days and had a great time. While we were in the car heading towards the zoo I asked my cousins to tell me their favorite Bible story or verse and why.
The Youngest told us her favorite was Esther, because she had a lot of faith to listen to her Uncle and go talk with the King. That led to a discussion about obedience and how ‘back in the day’ you didn’t even go to the King’s room unless he asked you to or you might be banished/killed/jailed. It was a pretty big deal to go marching up to a King and basically tell him that everything he believed and the person he trusted most was wrong and really just out for revenge. How many of us would be obedient enough that if God told us to deliver a message to President Obama we would? Heck would we even have the faith to believe that God would provide away for us to speak with the President? Typing that even seems impossible how would I ever get and audience with the President? But if God wanted it to happen he could make it happen.
The middle child said her favorite was Job because of his faith. Wow there is a story I haven’t thought of in a while…That guy lost everything, EVERYTHING! Livestock, Servants, Children, his health, he lost it all. His own Wife told him to “Cruse God and die” Job 2:9 Job’s response? “He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (vs 2:10) Right? We can’t expect that just because we believe it will be good all the time in fact I think its clear that for some times and for some people it will be bad really BAD. But we can’t lose faith.
Another part of this story that can be over looked is Job’s friends. The started out with good intentions to grieve with him and then turned on him and said that all this is happening because he had sinned. Now at the time yes sin was a cause of bad things happening however not in this case and as much as Job tried to convince them of that they just couldn’t see the truth. Humm nice friends huh? Friends may be well intended but they are not God, they don’t always know what is going on. Plus just because bad things are happening doesn’t mean you are some big bad sinner. Dont’ get me wrong actions have reactions and if you do something wrong their are going to be consequences but just because something goes wrong doesn’t mean you are ‘evil’ as some Churches would still like you to believe. Yikes.
Humm lots to think about and It couldn’t be better timing, there is a lot going on not only in my life but in the lives of those I love as well. So lets all have obedience like Esther and Faith like Job and it will all work out.
“We can’t expect that just because we believe it will be good all the time in fact I think its clear that for some times and for some people it will be bad really BAD. But we can’t lose faith.”–so true.
Job is a book of the bible I started clinging to in college because the trials of Job can be so relatable. It’s also an area I have to work on a lot…it’s hard to see the light when you are stuck in the middle of the tunnel (this is coming from someone who recently found that light at the end of the tunnel)
It’s interesting how I was so behind with all my blog visits that I came upon this post at the perfect time. My faith as well as my family’s faith is being severely tested right now because of what is happening to my brother-in-law. It’s so hard to stay strong and have faith that things will work out in the end when it seems like our world is crumbling around us. Thanks for the reminder about having faith in God.