Thoughts on Job

As I read slowly through the book of Job it makes me think of the many people I encounter each week. Real people with real crisis in their lives. Crisis that, although not as difficult as Job's, still causes them to ask "why." Early this week I sat with a family as their mother died. It was crushing to them and difficult for me. At times like this there are no words that help, just the "ministry of presence." Being there is the most important thing we can do. Today I went to hospital to sit with a young man who fell 20 feet from a tree and was miraculously only slightly injured. No broken bones, but a few days in hospital anyway. Before my run to the hospital I spent some time with one of our ladies who has lost her job and is worried about her life and her home. She sees a cliff ahead and is fearful of the future. It's a difficult time for her. Yesterday I got a call from a wife whose husband told her he didn't love her anymore and wanted a divorce. She's broken in a different way than the young man who fell from a tree, but it's a pain she will have for a long time. So, back to Job...as I read the dialogue between Job and his friends I see the real struggle we all have to try to understand why. We do try to figure out what's going on in our lives, but most of the time the answers don't come quickly or easily. Most of the time we simply have to trust God and wait. In Job's life and in ours we have to answer this question- Even if I don't understand why, will I trust God anyway? In the vacuum of an answer we are often left with only faith, but faith in the right one is the best choice we can make.

...

Pro 3:5 Trust GOD from the bottom of your heart; don't try to figure out everything on your own.
Pro 3:6 Listen for GOD's voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; he's the one who will keep you on track.
Pro 3:7 Don't assume that you know it all. Run to GOD!