By Benescke Janse van Rensburg

He was one of the best-known, most important men in the country. He had money - in abundance. Power – in abundance. He was a man of complete integrity. Job respected and worshiped God and even brought sacrifices on his children’s behalves just in case they secretly sinned against God. His life was blameless.

Then one day, Satan appeared with the angels before God's throne. When God asked him where he came from, he replied that he patrolled the earth to see what is happening. God asked whether he saw Job. In Job 1:9-11 Satan, clearly angry, answered: “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God.  You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is!  But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” For a moment, God thought about Job and then in Job 1:12 said: “All right, you may test him. Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.”

Within a day, Job lost everything. His ten children. All his belongings. And where he sat in the ashes, scraping his sores with a pièce of pottery, I'm sure Job was on the verge of complete hopelessness. Where was God - the One whom he worshiped? Why was He silent amidst the most difficult time of his life? Questions overwhelmed Job, with no answers. Even Job’s wife and friends tried to make him believe it were all due to his own faults.

Have you ever found yourself in such a hopeless situation? As if you are in the valley of the shadow of death. A valley of total god forsakenness? On the edge of total despair. Perhaps that is where you are today? Your marriage is falling apart. Debt is heaping up. You recently stood next to an open grave and the loneliness is killing you. Fear paralyzes you. Or your strength is failing due to an illness. You cry out to God, but the answers stay away. And deep inside you, you wonder if He had forgotten about you?

Job had no explanation for what had happened to him. Everything was against what he believed about God's character. Yet, despite its challenges, he says in Job 1: 21-22: “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!” He praised God when nothing made sense.

God and the angels observed every move Job made. Satan and his demons too. Amidst the pain, loss and disappointment, Job never sinned against God nor rejected Him. Never. And because he passed the test of his faith and sincerity, God not only restored Job’s abundance, He doubled it. But more than that, in Job 42: 5 we read Job’s words: “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.” During the most difficult time in Job’s life, he got to know God in a new way. In Hebrews 13:5 God says: "I will never leave you, nor forsake you.”

May we choose to keep our eyes on God in every season of our lives. May we know that, even during seasons of silence, sadness or disappointment, He will never leave nor forsake us. Let us pass the test of faith. It is far better to hear the applause from heaven, rather than hell (because both are watching). God bless.

Father God, thank You for Your goodness and mercy in my life. Help me to remember that even though I might not understand the reason behind challenges, I know that You remain faithful. Help me to put my trust in You. I ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

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