Yet sometimes, when battered by the storms of life, our faith is tested.
Job had occasion to waiver in his faith. He lost everything--his wealth, his children, his health. Even his grieving wife took one look at his scabrous body and said something like Have you taken a good long look at yourself lately? Why don't you just get it over with--curse God and die.
In response Job said, "You're talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job acknowledged he was in dire straits, but rather than say (as we all do), "Why me?" he basically said, "Why NOT me?"
Good for him! Yet even Job had his moments of doubt. He felt if he could just present his case before God, He'd take pity on him and turn away the evil that oppressed him.
What's wrong with that, you may ask? Only this: Job either forgot, or never reckoned on, God's sovereignty. Meaning? Meaning God can do all things, He knows all things, He is ever present. He didn't need Job to fill Him in on the details of his plight. He didn't need Job's advice on what He needed to do.
It was only after God recounted His mighty acts that Job repented of his faithlessness saying,
"I know that you can do all things; no plan of yours can be thwarted. . .
My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes."
~Job 42:2-4
We all get a chance to drink at the trough of tough times. We all can relate to the truth expressed in Job 5:7, "Man is born to trouble as surely as the sparks fly upward." Yet when those times come, we need to rest in this one thing--God is sovereign. Better yet, this sovereign God loves us. Nothing can happen in the life of a believer but what has filtered through His hands.
So be at peace, believer. You're in Good Hands.
Can you describe a time you saw God's sovereignty at work in your life?
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