Read Job 1:20–22
Try to make time this week to read the entire book of Job. That’s right: all 42 chapters. Only then can you see the true extent of Job’s honest dealings with God and his steadfast faith in severe adversity.
Then, think about your life and your own dealings with the Lord. Think about your past...your own times of severe adversity. Were you able to look up, look ahead, and look within?
Where are you now in your journey of faith?
If you are climbing over the ragged rocks of adversity, take His hand and let Him lead. In the midst of it all, it is His touch which comforts and guides. Don’t fight Him...don’t try to control the outcome.
If the road ahead is smooth right now, that’s great, but be ready. Watch out for falling rocks!
Review Job’s words as he faced the intensifying nature of his monumental test of faith:
Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. He said,
“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!”
In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God. (Job 1:20–22)
Resist the temptation to lash out at God, blaming Him for what you have experienced. He understands you’re hurting. And grief is a natural part of the journey. In fact, it is an essential part of your healing. Like Job did under the most heartbreaking circumstances, turn to God and trust His plan. Do it today. And tomorrow. And again, the next day. As long as it takes to hear God’s voice and to regain your spiritual footing. He will lift you to the right place. He will go there with you. Ultimately, He will bring you out back into the light of His goodness. No, I don’t know when, but He will.
Devotional content taken from Good Morning, Lord...Can We Talk? by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2018. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, a Division of Tyndale House Ministries. All rights reserved.
The full devotional can be purchased at https://www.tyndale.com/p/good-morning-lord-can-we-talk/9781414380681.
