January 3, 2023
My dear Brother and sister in Christ, I greet and bless everyone in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. The blessed word that God has given you for today is from the book of Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and Shunned evil. ”
My Dear Brother and Sister, We read in the Bible that Job was a good man who feared the Lord and turned away from evil. We also come to know that he was a wealthy, highly esteemed by all and a man of prayer with ten adult children. His reverence for the Lord is a distinctive feature, which identified Job as someone with a spirit of God and who had the desire for godly understanding. “For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One gives understanding”.
My Dear Brother and Sister, But we see that God allowed Job to be tested. So he was severely tested by Satan. His friend’s believed that God’s blessing exclusively fell on the righteous while His punishment only touched wicked men. His dialogue with his friends exposes this misconception. Because “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above and comes from the Father of lights, Who never changes”, “for the Lord causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and He sends rain on the righteous and on the unrighteous”. We see that Job underwent immense sufferings. But his faith in God’s word honours His name.
My Dear Brother and Sister, Job’s sufferings and the way he faces the problems, provides us with an understanding of how God relates to man and His long-suffering kindness towards us. It helps us to understand, what the Lord desires from His people and the benefits of suffering in our lives, even when God’s actions seem to contradict His character. The sufferings of Job, helps to answer the question – ‘why do bad things happen to good people? Why do God’s servants have to suffer when the ungodly seem to have a problem-free existence?
My Dear Brother And Sister, God is always good, and evil is always the result of sin. God is the Creator of all that is good and wholesome, and it is God’s sovereign right to bless whosoever He chooses. And although He promises to bless those who trust Him, He does not promise that evil will never befall them. For God will turn evil to good for those that love Him. The Lord’s reply to Job did not answer his many questions, but it demonstrates God’s omniscience. His goodness and grace; His forbearance and mercy ; His wisdom and strength – His kindness and His favour towards His servant. Let us not only consider the sufferings of Job who was blameless, upright, feared God and eschewed evil, but let us also rejoice in the immeasurable grace of God – His never-ending goodness; His long-suffering mercy, His perfect justice and His everlasting righteousness.
My Dear Brother and Sister, many of you, who are reading this message, may be going through trials and tribulation like Job. You might have lost your loved ones. Some of you might have lost your jobs. Some might be suffering from severe disease. You might have incurred great loss in your business. Whatever might be your problem, if you remain like Job, God will bless you and keep you. Look at Job, though he was righteous God tested his faith. He proved to be a true man of God. The Bible says, In spite of all the affliction Job never committed sin by his lips. May God help you to be honest, faithful and blameless before God. Since Job feared the Lord, he was blessed with double portion of blessing. You too will be blessed with double portion of blessing, if you look to God in prayer and remain faithful to him.
Prayer: Our loving heavenly Father, we thank You for this blessed day. Father, we bless and thank You for the many lessons we learn from the life of Job. We have misrepresented Your grace and favour toward mankind, through our own lack of understanding and limited perception. Thank You for Your goodness and grace; Your forbearance and mercy; Your wisdom and strength and Your kindness and favour toward us all. Thank You for not giving us what we deserve but instead, has given us what we do not deserve. Help us to come to a deeper knowledge and understanding of Who You are and help us to live our life in a way that honours You.
In Jesus’ name we pray,
AMEN.
