He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Job 1:21 NASB
I love this verse from the book of Job. It reminds us that we own nothing in this world, we did not bring anything from the womb. All that we have today is from the Lord. We are just stewards, if God decides to take away things or withold some things from us, we do not have to feel entitled and deprived.
Our response when God provides or answers our prayers must be the same when we feel things are taken from us, that is, to praise the Lord! The Lord our God is good, what we perceive as bad, he can make it for good.
Some people think that when God allowed unfortunate events, He is punishing them. But true believers will think that they are like Job, whom God trusts to be His champion against Satan’s taunting. For us Christians, God can trust us because we have placed our faith in His Son Jesus. Jesus is our rock and we can depend on Him to deliver us in times of trial. Sure, we are unable to fight Satan’s trick without God in our lives, in tempting us he even needs permission from the Lord. So if God let us be tempted, there must be some sort of good plan that He wants to carry on through us.
Finally, the bottomline is since we are in Christ we can rejoice in both good or suffering, with which worship will be our initial response. Jesus already took on the greatest suffering at the cross more than two thousand years ago, so our suffering today is nothing compared to His. For the reason that He overcame death and lives, He is working now for us, sanctifying us to be victors for God!
Soli Deo Gloria!
-Rhia