Faith

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Job 2

Satan came to God a second time and told Him that if God were to inflict harm to Job's body, Job would curse Him. God put job in Satan's hand, but he couldn't kill Job. Sometimes we don't know why things happen to us, so we must trust that God is in control and that He will get us through it. God is always in control of the good and the bad. God does allow bad things to happen to good people, but He will never give His children more than they can handle.

Satan struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. Job took a fragment of broken pottery to scrape himself while he sat in the middle of the ashes of his children's house that Satan burned to the ground. Job's wife asked him why was he still holding on to his integrity. She told him to just curse God and die. Job called his wife a foolish woman. He said that if we are willing to accept the good from God, we also have to be willing to accept the bad things that happens to us. In all Job's trials, he still didn't speak evil of the Lord.

Job teaches us a valuable bit of wisdom here. When things are going great in our life, everything is fine. People praise God for this and praise God for that. However, when the bad times come, people don't praise God, they blame Him, just as Job's wife had done. We have to realize that God created it all and He has control of it all. He can do what He wants, where He wants, when He wants, and involve whomever He wants. Whatever God does, He does it to make something happen. God was strengthening Job's faith to a rock solid state. Job's wife did not have strong faith. In all that happened to Job, he never blamed God. Please don't blame God. Please don't blame God for the bad things that happen. Recognize that has specific purposes for these trials, and He will make it right with you. You must have Job - sized faith in Him.

When Job's three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, heard all the trouble that Job was having. Each one came to see him. They decided together to come mourn with Job and to comfort him. When they saw Job from afar, they didn't recognize him. They wept at the sight of Job. Each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. They sat down on the ground with Job for seven days and nights. No one spoke a word to Job because they saw that his grief was very great.

Friends can be invaluable when we are going through hard times. We all need people to talk to comfort us when we are down. They can be the difference between going crazy and staying sane. Good, true friends will comfort and support you and be there for you through the good and the bad. Even if they do not know what to say, just their presence can be soothing to a troubled soul. When my mother died in 2005, I had to sleep in the daytime because I worked third shift. I wanted my wife to be in the same room with me for the first week or so while I went to sleep. She didn't need to say a word. Just knowing that she was there was a comfort to my grieving soul.

Good friends feel our pain and grieve with us while helping us keep our sanity at the same time. Job had these kind of friends at the start of his misery. Always be good, true, loyal friends to those who need you. Even if all they want is for you to be silent and sit in the midst of the ashes of their troubled life, with them. When they are ready, be ready to pull them up those same ashes with a smile and a hug. A true friend is one of the most valuable assets a person can have. Those who have them are blessed fro God.

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