I don\u2019t ever remember REALLY studying the book of Job before — really taking the time to analyze why God would have ever let him suffer like he did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our Lamplighters\u2019 class is in the middle of studying Job\u2019s life \u2013 the good man that he was, the beautiful family and wealth that belonged to him. BUT then God and Satan had a little pow wow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Satan had the audacity to put God to the test, along with Job. Everything seemed so perfect for Job. The Bible tells us that Job was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had a beautiful family, abundant livestock, countless servants, and a reputation as the greatest man among all the people of the East.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But then, a conversation took place in the heavenly realm that would change everything. Satan appeared before God, questioning the sincerity of Job\u2019s faith. \u201cOf course he worships you,\u201d Satan implied. \u201cYou\u2019ve blessed him beyond measure. Take it all away, and he\u2019ll curse you to your face.\u201d Surprisingly, God allowed Satan to test Job, confident in Job\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What followed was unimaginable. Job lost his wealth, his children, his health. His friends showed up, not to comfort him, but to accuse him, convinced that Job\u2019s suffering must be due to some hidden sin. Job\u2019s wife even suggested he curse God and die. But Job declared, \u201cThough He slay me, yet will I hope in Him.\u201d (Job 13:15)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Job openly expressed his pain to God. I\u2019ve had those conversations with God — when I\u2019ve experienced pain and loss — I told Him exactly how I felt. That\u2019s what we should do when we don\u2019t understand all that is going on in our lives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
THEN — restoration came. God blessed Job abundantly — restoring his health, giving him twice as much as he had before — including more children! Wow! Double for his trouble!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Job\u2019s story isn\u2019t just one of loss; it\u2019s one of redemption. It\u2019s a story that reminds us that even when life feels unbearably hard, God is still at work, faithful to restore and redeem.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Telling God how we feel is okay! We can say, \u201cI\u2019m mad. I\u2019m upset. I\u2019m frustrated.\u201d God can handle our complaints, questions, fear, and grief. God\u2019s love for us is bigger than all our emotions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When life hurts — we don\u2019t have to grin and bear it. Instead, we go to our Heavenly Father with our pain. \u201cGet up, cry out in the night, even as the night begins. Pour out your heart like water in prayer to the Lord.\u201d (Lamentations 2:19)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
God turned it all around for Job AND He will for you and me. He makes \u201cold things pass away and all things become new again\u201d! (2 Corinthians 5:17)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
That\u2019s our God! In the meantime \u2013 we trust, we believe, and we let God have His way! He\u2019s the ultimate restorer!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I don\u2019t ever remember REALLY studying the book of Job before — really taking the time to analyze why God would have ever let him suffer like he did. Our Lamplighters\u2019 class is in the middle of studying Job\u2019s life \u2013 the good man that he was, the beautiful family and wealth that belonged to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":22066,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22065"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22067,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22065\/revisions\/22067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/22066"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mypeacezone.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}