Dr. Lawrence Butler, The Bridge Church, Pembroke

For several weeks I have presented to you the story of a man named Job. His life’s story is one of the most unusual that any of us have ever heard. He was a godly man who faithfully served the Lord God with all his heart, yet was subjected to some of the most awful trauma anyone would ever experience. His story has been detailed in this series of articles, so I urge you to read through them again to refresh your memory. If the articles are not available to you, simply go to your Bible and read his story in the book entitled “Job.” You will learn what Job never knew at the beginning of his trouble; the reason all this happened.

There are several principles which may be drawn from the story. I would like to present four critically important ones that I trust the Lord will use to help you as you navigate your difficult places in life.

1) Sometimes bad things really do happen to good people. When trouble comes upon you it doesn’t necessarily mean that God is punishing you. There are probably reasons that you just don’t understand, and God doesn’t always tell us why. This makes it really difficult for us to trust Him, especially when you feel you don’t deserve what has come your way.

Is there anything that hurts more than the sickness or death of a family member – a spouse, parent, child or grandchild? This cuts so deeply we sense there will never be true healing.

2) When life’s problems overwhelm us even our closest friends may not understand. Their effort at comforting just ends up becoming criticism. Job’s friends didn’t understand any more than Job did, so they accused him of unrighteous behavior and blamed him for the loss of his ten children. What a hurtful and destructive accusation!

3) There seems to be no clue as to how long Job’s sorrowful journey lasted. It could have been a few weeks, months or even years.

Your trial may last a long time, but it will come to an end!

4) There is no way out, you simply must go through this ordeal. Trusting God is your only hope. (Rom 8:37) “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” Read the end of the story and you’ll see the Lord restored Job and blessed him again.

“Trust in the Lord.”