There was a man

There was a man who lived a long time ago. In many ways he was just an ordinary man. He had made his way through life, year by year, gathering up riches and wisdom and relationships along the way. He had a wonderful family. He loved his wife .He adored his children. After everything was said and done, he was a successful man. Had Providence left him alone, he probably would have lived out his life, died, and been buried, only to be forgotten in a few years. Just like all the rest of us.


Our friend’s lot in life was quite different. He was not to be forgotten! One day a messenger came bearing the news that his children were no longer with him. They had all been killed. Not only that, his possessions had all been stolen or destroyed, and his servants killed. This was a huge pill for him to swallow. For most men, it would have been the end. Our man could have given up, gotten bitter or fallen into a deep depression. But not our guy! Oh, he mourned! He let his sorrow flow like a river. But he never put a charge against God for what had happened. Instead, his attitude was, “Everything came from God; He can take it back if he wants.”

You would think that the next thing which might happen would be that he would rise up and rebuild his life. He had done it once before. With God’s help he could do it again. But what really happened was that he got sick. His whole body was attacked. He was in constant pain. His very flesh rotted. His appearance was so bad that his friends couldn’t look at him. He was isolated and shunned. Day by day, he just got worse. No one could figure out what was the cause of all his problems, but they did not want to catch whatever he had. Even his wife turned against him.

He did have three friends, however, and these friends made it their life’s goal to help him find the truth. The only problem was they did not know the truth themselves. They had many opinions, most of which were traditionally accepted and were centered on themselves. For days and days, the four men met together and spoke of the things of heaven and earth. The main point of discussion was that God only let bad things happen to evil people. Hurtful things that came into our lives were therefore only the result of sin. When bad things happened, it was proof that we had sinned. What we needed to do was repent before God. This repentance would surely bring healing and God’s favor would return. The man’s problem with this was that he didn’t think he had sinned, so why the devastation? There was something more to this and our man was going to find out what it was.

After a long time of argument, debate, and discussion, it seemed as if there was just no answer as to why our friend had lost so much. It should be noted that during these times of discussion, he never admitted to any guilt or crime, but instead proclaimed his innocence before the law. He was so emphatic that his three friends finally grew disgusted and gave up. They wrote him off as someone who could not face the truth and would bear the burden and pain of his situation without hope until he died.

There is one thing I forgot to mention. During these days of disease and discussion, friends and fighting, and questioning everything, our man became angry. He told off his friends. He cried out for justice, and he cried out for mercy. He cried out for understanding, but none of these things materialized. As his life moved deeper and deeper into his pit of pain, humiliation, and rejection, God began to work. God did not curse him. He didn’t drown him or send wild animals to tear him apart. Instead, God began to ask him some serious questions. Questions that were designed to show the gap between his knowledge and God’s knowledge. Questions that compared man’s power to God’s power. God spoke of things that no one could put claim on except Himself. He challenged our man to look beyond the obvious and see the supernatural. Piece by piece, bit by bit God unveiled the vastness of the universe and what it is took to create and to maintain it. . He revealed the awesome substance of His being by revealing the wonders of the cosmos which He birthed and over which He alone was Lord and Master.

When God was through with his display of power, goodness and grandeur He turned to our man for a response. The man said to God, “You can do everything. There is nothing that You desire to do and are not able to do. I have heard of you the past and of the wondrous things that You could do, but now I have seen You face to face. When I look at You and compare myself to You, I fall on the ground.”

Then God asked him to bless his three friends. When he did this he, God took away the sickness that had ravaged his life. God lifted him up and put his life back together. He restored his children, his possessions, his place of honor in the community and his hope for the future. This man lived for many years enjoying his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

There is a lot to learn from this story. It would take me a long time just to scratch the surface. There’s so much to deal with. I’ll keep it simple. There are three principles which our man, his name was Job, seemed to live by. The first principle is never accept another man’s opinion over God’s. If you do not know God’s opinion, seek it. He told us in the Bible to actively seek Him for wisdom, because He vigorously gives it without getting angry to all who do so. Remember, He is our Father and He loves to give us gifts. Go to His word. Study the issues. Pray, and pray and pray. Find God’s direction for where you are right now and accomplish it. The choice is ours, the results are His.

The second principle of Job’s success is never get too attached to worldly possessions. Remember the story of two men talking at a funeral? One man says, “How much fortune did he leave behind?” The other man looks at him and answers, “All of it!” Anything and everything that you possess may be gone in an instant. We are not guaranteed tomorrow or its riches. We are guaranteed that God will supply all of our needs. There is freedom and strength to be found by living in a place where you own your possessions but they don’t own you.

The third principle that I believe Job models for us is, “Never take yourself too seriously”. I can’t nail down a certain place or time that this principle is directly modeled, although I’m sure some could. I just know that for anyone to go through what Job went through and survive, without a good sense of humor and a humble attitude towards life, is impossible. He could never have been vulnerable enough to be in God’s presence if his opinion of himself was not humble. And he couldn’t have withstood the constant onslaught of misfortune without knowing that all of this is temporal anyway. As one man I know puts it, “You see the greatness of the building we have constructed? We’re all so proud. It’s so vital to our community. Just remember, its all dry wall and paint. It’ll never last.” And he’s right. In 100 years it’ll probably be a gas station.

That’s the big three. Never accept man’s opinion over God’s; never get too attached to worldly possessions; and don’t take yourself too seriously. If he were here, I believe Job would say, “Hold on! Don’t sweat the small stuff! And remember it’s all small stuff!”

Respectfully yours,
Job’s Understudy