Job, who lived in the land of Uz was a man who lived both extreme spectrums of life in his lifetime. He lived in wealth and health, and so did he experience penury and infirmity. He was one to reverence God in every step of his life. He reverenced God so much that he offered burnt offerings to the Lord on behalf of his children. He did so because he feared in his heart that his children might have sinned against God one way or the other as they went about their daily activities. –Job 1:5. He was a man so consumed with pleasing God with his life and the lives of his family at all cost that he offered his burnt offerings to the Lord first thing in the morning. Without a doubt I am sure everytime he offered those sacrifices he communed with the Lord. It really is no surprise to me when the bible describes him as the richest man in the entire land of Uz during his lifetime – Job 1:3 because our dear God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him (Hebrews 11:6) and so does He bless those who fear Him (Psalm 115:11)
The Lord blessed Job, the Lord was with Him always and the Lord was so proud of His son Job! The Lord was so proud of Job that He described him as a man in a lifetime kind of man, a man blameless and full of the fear of the Lord – Job 1:8. (A quick pause here, can the Lord say the same about you and I right now? Can the Lord say that there is no human like you and I on earth who fears Him so much and stays away from all forms of evil?) The devil heard this and of course was jealous of the way the Lord was protective of Job and so he made an evil suggestion. He told the Lord to remove the edge of protection round about Job so he could have free way to steal and destroy the good things in Job’s life. The devil thought to himself, perhaps he could gain another soul for his kingdom, he thought Job would denounce God right after he loses everything. On the other hand, God was so sure of his son Job, he was confident that Job was going to worship Him, fear Him regardless of what the devil might do to him.
The devil successfully stole and destroyed his wealth and children all in the space of one day! The devil definitely does not show mercy at all!!! He took it all from Job in one day and Job’s reaction when he heard all the devastating news about his properties and children was to worship God. Job 1:20. I can only imagine how proud God was when He saw Job bow down in worship after so much of a loss.
The devil of course displeased and perhaps irritated with this reaction went for the kill. He went back to God to ask for access to steal Job’s health. The Lord feeling very proud and sure that His son Job would pass the test gave the devil some access but He warned Him not to take Job’s life- Job 2:3-6. And so the devil inflicted Job with diseases.
Job completely stripped of all things good that he ever had still refused to curse the Lord as advised by his wife. As Job’s story unfolds, we begin to see him express his anguish, pain and hurt. There were times he cursed the day he was born, cursed the day he was concieved, wished that he had died as a child or during his birth. In all of his lashing out, he never once cursed God neither did he lash out at the Lord. Instead Job spoke to the Lord through his pain, he asked the Lord questions through his pain(Job 10, Job 13:20-28).
In over twenty chapters in the book of Job, we see how Job made his petitions known to God. I can only imagine how much of Job’s days of suffering was compressed into 42 chapters. Something that I find interesting in all this is how God patiently listened to all Job had to say before responding to Him. We do not see God respond to him until the 38th chapter in the book of Job. This is yet another pointer and reminder that God hears all of our prayers and petition to Him and He answers in due time.
The Lord responds to Job’s cry, pointing him to His magnanimity and wisdom. Right in the middle of speaking to Job, the Lord gives him a rather odd instruction. The Lord asks Job to offer burnt offerings on behalf of his friends and also pray for them. His friends in question were healthy men who had come to mourn his losses with him. And here the Lord says that sick Job should Pray for them. Humanly speaking, the instruction may seem and sound laughable but that wasn’t Job’s thought or reaction. Job obeyed the Lord immediately and his obedience was rewarded with double his fortune that he had lost.
I could not help but ponder about Job’s yieldedness to the Lord even in the state of his mental and physical health. He wasn’t in the best of state yet he obeyed God when he was asked to pray for his friends. He could have easily declined to do so given the condition that he was in. But he was a man who determined to please God regardless. Unknown to him, his miracle was just by the corner, right at the end of his obedience to the Lord.
In summary, Job was a man of prayer, a man who stayed in constant communion with the Lord. When he had all the blessings of life-he prayed, when he was unsure of his family’s stand with the Lord-he prayed, when calamity befell him-he prayed, when he was asked to pray for his friend-he did.
Wise men and women have spoken about the power that christians forfiet when we do not pray or talk to God about everything we go through. God is the best listener, see how he patiently listened to Job! Moreso, when we pray, we access our all powerful God and we are able to draw strength from Him. Somehow, I believe that it was Job’s constant communion with the Lord that sustained him through out his anguish.
With that said, I pray that we are encouraged to pray to God about anything and everything today and everyday in Jesus name.