Saturday, December 3, 2016

A HUMBLE and GRATEFUL GUIDE

Job 1:21 THE LORD GAVE AND THE LORD HAS TAKEN AWAY; MAY THE NAME OF THE LORD BE PRAISED


God was proud of his servant Job (1:8), and Job’s prayer in verse 21 shows why. First there is his remarkable humility. He had known all along that everything came from God. Naked he arrived in this world; naked he would depart. Second, even though Job had just learned that he had lost the people and things most precious to him, he utters an amazing expression of gratitude. His attitude wasn’t "God took what was mine!" Job acknowledged that everything is the Lord’s. Everything he had was his by gift, not by right. Humility and gratitude are the irreducible minimums of prayer. The grateful are humble or they wouldn’t be grateful. God dwells only with the humble (Isaiah 57:15); 1 Peter 5:5). Until we know we have no ground to stand on before God, we have no ground to stand on before God.

Job’s humility and gratitude will be even more severely tested. He will be pushed out to the very edge of humanity, and return holier and happier. SØren Kierkegaard pictured Job as standing at an outpost from which he could lead the rest of us through the dark wilds of suffering. Job is a guide; he gives us hope; he reassures us that what we thought isn’t possible is possible. When Job’s story ends, "the terror is endured, the horror experienced, the battle of despair waged, to the honor of God, to his own salvation, to the profit and happiness of others. In joyful days, in fortunate times Job walks by the side of the race and guarantees it is happiness, combats the apprehensive dream that some horror may suddenly befall a man and have power to destroy his soul as its certain pray."

Job is a great prayer partner. His prayers aren’t necessarily tidy, because his life isn’t always tidy. Because of this, he teaches prayer, but mainly he encourages us to pray just as we are. He is one of the original, "Just as I am" pray-ers.

In Christ,

Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts

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