Genesis 34, Job 1, Mark and Romans 5

I have always been astonished by Job's response to losing everything. He was very wealthy, in terms of livestock, and he lost it all. He had 10 children, who he loved deeply (He made sacrifices for them regularly, just in case they had sinned), who were killed in one catastrophic event. He loses everything...yet his first response is to worship God! That is amazing. It is easy to see why Job is held up, even by God, as a great example of faith and righteous living. How many of us worship God only when things are going well, and then turn angrily away from him when things start falling apart? Job shows us the response of a true believer. There is no hope outside of God...where else are we gonna turn when our world is collapsing? Bitterness? Anger? Fear? Disbelief? These all lead us down a path of deeper pain and suffering...only God can lead us towards healing and hope.

Paul offers a great follow-up to Job in Romans chapter 5. He says that we can rejoice in our sufferings (like Job did), because suffering produces endurance...endurance produces character...character produces hope...and hope does not bring us shame...hope does not let us down. Do you understand what he is talking about? We have been given access to God...access to a righteousness that we could never have obtained on our own, through the death of Jesus Christ. That is the reality that faithful believers live in every day - EVERY MOMENT! So when terrible things happen to us on this earth, we can know that even in the midst of that pain and hurt, we are experiencing the grace that Jesus offered on the cross. We know how this story ends! We know who wins! We know that true life awaits us after death, so we can handle anything the screwed up world has to throw at us! Doesn't that make sense? Anywhere else you turn - away from God - leads only to hopelessness. Do you really think that walking away from God because you lost a loved one is gonna help you...gonna make life better? How could it? The only thing that is gonna offer healing in our times of brokenness is the hope that comes only through Jesus.