Job 1:20-21
“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.'”
Sometimes I am amazed at how I can read the same Scripture over and over and then suddenly see something I have never seen before. That is the case with the passage I have used for today’s E-Votional.
Notice the first two words in today’s Scripture—“At this.” That means there is something in the preceding 19 verses that must be considered before going further. As we read the verses 2 and 3, we discover that Job had seven sons, three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys and a large number of servants.
In verses 13-19, we read that Job’s world came crashing down around his shoulders in a matter of minutes. Four servants in rapid succession appeared before Job to give devastating reports. The first reported that his oxen and donkeys had been stolen by the Sabeans and all of the servants killed except him. While he was still speaking a second servant reported that fire had fallen from the sky and killed all of the sheep and the servants watching them except himself.
He was still speaking when a third servant appeared to report that the Chaldeans had rustled all of the camels and killed all of the servants except him. There must have been a feeling of dread in Job’s heart as he saw the forth servant standing with a grief stricken face. It was the most tragic news of all—all ten of his children had been killed by a terrible windstorm.
From wealth and blessing to being a poor man with only four servants. This had all happened in the space of perhaps fifteen minutes. I am sure that Job forgot the loss of his sheep, camels, oxen and donkeys when compared to the loss of his children.
This brings me to the portion of Scripture that I had missed before. It was the reaction of a righteous and godly man when calamity strikes. How would he deal with such a loss? He worshiped!
If I were there with Job I would have liked to comfort him by telling him that things would get better—but that would not be true—they were going to get worse. It is like the joke about the man who was told: “Cheer up, things could be worse.” So he cheered up and sure enough things got worse!!!
Today’s Scripture says that he fell to the ground in worship. There was no way for Job to know that God had held him up before Satan as a righteous man and that these calamities were from Satan to shake his faith. He only knew that God was in control and worthy to be praised.
It is spiritually immature to worship God only when things are going well and complain when things go against us. Those who desire to have true spirituality will remember Romans 8:28: “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose.”
Job’s act of worship should speak volumes to us today. In the face of every blow that strikes we need to fall on our face before the God of the universe and submit to His divine authority. GOD IS IN CONTROL AS WE ARE BEING REFINED AS PURE GOLD!
Blessings dear hearts. Draw near to God today, trust Him completely and be a blessing!
– – – Pastor Cecil