Posted on 10/25/2009 1:05:33 AM PDT by bogusname
It is easy for us to read the Old Testament story of Job and critique him on certain points. But let's keep in mind that Job never read the Book of Job. He didn't know that things would turn out well in the end. He didn't know about the conversations that had taken place between God and Satan up in heaven. He didn't know why all this was happening.
All Job knew was that one day everything was going beautifully, and the next day, the bottom dropped out of his life with no real explanation that he could see. Yet he persevered in his faith and integrity. Even with his life collapsing around him, Job was a model of how to handle tragedy and adversity.
The Bible says, "We give great honor to those who endure under suffering. For instance, you know about Job, a man of great endurance. You can see how the Lord was kind to him at the end, for the Lord is full of tenderness and mercy" (James 5:11 nlt). Things did turn out well for Job, but Job could not see that in the middle of his tragedy...
(Excerpt) Read more at wnd.com ...
Great teaching from Greg Laurie. He’s had his own Job experience and I’m sure still asking why.
bookmark
The man knows about tragedy:
Christopher Laurie, 33, was killed in a car accident in Corona, California, on July 24, 2008. He had served as the art director at Harvest Christian Fellowship for three years. Christopher left behind a wife, Brittany, and a daughter, Stella. At the time of his death, Brittany was expecting their second daughter, Lucy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Laurie
Let's keep in mind in this day and age we DO know spiritual warfare exist. Even if you don't buy biblical accounts you can't deny the evidence which exist in quantum physics.
Thanks for posting. I was notified last week that I am losing my job, like many others this year.
There is a Master Plan.
I’ve had that happen to me in recent years and it was a very hard time for me. I don’t who you are but I’ll pray for you.
You know what? The strangest thing happened when I was unemployed. I was out and about looking for a job anywhere I might find one and I saw an old man walking along the side of the road about 20 miles from town. So I pulled over and gave him a ride. He looked poor and even more out of luck than myself. He also looked a tad familiar. I’ve never been able to figure just where I saw him before or who it was he might have reminded me of. When I dropped him off I gave him 7 bucks because that was all I had. As he was getting out of the car he told me that Lord was going to give me a job soon. I nodded as if I agreed with him but wondered why he himself didn’t have a job if he could tell me I was going to get one soon. The next day (a saturday) I got a call from a man who offered me a job on the phone for $16.59 an hour to start. I didn’t have to interview, he just wanted me to go up quickly and take a drug test and get a physical immediately that very day. He had all of this already set up. I started work the next day doing three 12 hour shifts a week that counted as 40 hours with a four day weekend.
It may be rough for you for a little while. It was for me. I had just about lost all hope. Don’t worry. God is still looking after you even though it doesn’t seem like it sometimes.
These are such horrible times... those who haven’t lost their jobs live in fear they’ll be next. You and yours are in my prayers.
Not quite my take. The devil was in a bad spot - he had fallen from a perfect world. Then he runs into Job - things going great, but not living in a perfect world. God points out to the devil that point - compare yourself to Job.
The devil complains that God had given Job everything (still short of what the devil had), and so God gives the devil free riegn on Job. When Job's life wasn't perfect, he still trusted God. Again, so unlike what the devil had done. And Job continued in that trust.
God kinda rubbed it in the devils face. His imperfect beings in an imperfect world respond better then this perfect being in a perfect world. And we still have the opportunity today to show the devil that it is wiser to choose God.
It's wiser to choose good over evil... you're right on that.
Neither is the world charming. The book shows that God is not a materialist, and that earthly prosperity is not his objective for his people. It also demonstrates that Satan is materialistic and cynical, or conversely, that materialism and cynicism are Satanic traits. Remember that God stood by and let his own Son be tortured. As God says in the book, we may not fully understand or appreciate his methods, but he is the boss and we are not.
It's easier to grow spiritually when faced with choices - think of you own life. You grew the most from adversity - from being forced to make the correct but hard choice. No one "grows" from riding the roller coaster at Disney World. God is his wisdom has given us this gift.
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