"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved
his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from
my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has
taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." Job 1:20-21 (ESV)
Over the last few weeks I've been reading through
the book of Job. Please keep in mind that I am in no way a biblical
scholar, and that the following post reflects my thoughts and
interpretations. Quick synopsis: Job was a good man, he did all
the right things, and yet God did not hold Satan back from taking away Job's
wealth, his family, or his health. Job goes from on top of the world to the
bottom of a pit in next to no time.
In reading Job, God has been teaching me some
things about suffering. He's reminded me that NOBODY is good apart from
Himself, no matter how "righteous" we may appear or how many
"good" things we do. Though Job himself was a righteous man (Job
1:1), he still was in no way perfect. God's also been showing me that if we,
like Job's friends, limit our understanding of God to One who brings pain to
those who do wrong and bless those who do right, we limit our view of His love.
NONE of us deserve anything from Him - we are all deserving of death, yet God
freely gives us life! Our hope while on
this earth is in the promise that these sufferings are all ultimately temporary
and that our promise is Heaven, of finally reaching completeness.
Fast-forward to present day Zimbabwe: Janine
Roberts, a missionary in Zimbabwe for the past five years, has been in the
process of adopting two girls. With the recent shakeup in the government,
Janine was unable to extend her visa and had until January 11 to prepare to
leave. Leaving meant uncertainty in ever being able to adopt the girls because,
although the adoption has gone through in America, there has been a hold-up on
the Zimbabwe end. Janine, this amazing servant of God who had given up all
things to move far away from all things familiar just to follow His calling, was
being forced to give up the chance to ever really be with these girls. Janine
loves God, does all the right things, and yet she was losing her daughters and
having to move from this place that had become her home.
Even though Janine is such a wonderful servant, she's still not good.
She still falls short of God's glory. Like the situation of Job, it would be
easy to sit back and say that Janine doesn't deserve this. But in doing that,
we are missing the point! NONE of us deserve ANY of the good things that
God blesses us with. God longs to freely give us all things, but that does not
mean that we will not encounter hardships along the way. One of the most
difficult things to accept is that most of the time we will not understand why
we go through hard times. “Why do bad things happen to good people” is a hard
thing to try and explain. The fact is, we live in a fallen world. But Jesus
encouraged His disciples by saying this: “In
the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the
world.” -John 16:33
Over the past few weeks, much prayer has gone up for Janine’s situation.
Yesterday, the day she was preparing to leave, she got word that her visa has
been renewed for A YEAR. Right at the last minute when all hope seemed lost, Janine
received a huge blessing! Throughout this whole situation, as people who don’t
even know Janine have been in prayer for her and her daughters, God has been
doing something that we may never understand. This story of faith will serve to
lead others to know God better wherever it will be told.
If you’ve held out this long, I promise I’m almost done! Essentially,
this is the lesson I’ve been learning in all of this: God is good, all the time. All the time, God is good. “For His
anger is but for a moment, and His favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry
for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” (Psalm 30:5) I hope this story
blesses those of you who have read it and that it increases your faith in God
and in the power of prayer.
Check out Janine’s blog:
“Further Up, Further In, and Farther Along.”
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