I’ve been reading the book of Job, and I am completely amazed at how Job stands in faith even though he’s lost everything. The verse that stuck out to me was this: “Though he slay me, I will hope in him; …” (Job 13:15 ESV) Job has endured more than anyone could even imagine. To give a little background, Satan tells God that the only reason Job is faithful to Him is because of all the blessings God has given him. In other words, Satan is saying that God paid Job to serve Him. Job is the wealthiest man on earth, is married with 10 children, owns 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, many servants, and is respected in the city gates. Satan says that if God took away all that Job has, Job would curse God to His face. So, God tells Satan that He will allow Satan to do anything he wants to do to test Job, but he cannot take Job’s life.
What happens next is more than anyone could imagine. A messenger comes to tell Job that an enemy, the Sabeans, has killed all his oxen, donkeys, and the servants tending them, and no sooner does the messenger tell Job this, but another messenger comes and tells Job that fire fell from Heaven and burned up Job’s sheep and the servants tending them. As the messenger was speaking, another messenger came to tell Job that the Chaldeans came and killed all his camels and the servants tending them. Another messenger comes to tell Job that his children were having a party in their oldest brother’s house, and a great wind came and destroyed the house and killed Job’s children. All of this happened on one day! Poor Job! He tears his clothes, shaves his head, and falls to the ground, worshipping God! That just amazes me because that is truly hope in the middle of despair!
And then, if Satan hasn’t thrown enough at Job, he attacks Job by taking away his health, giving him sores all over his body! Job sits in an ash pit and scrapes his sores with broken pottery. At this point, Job’s wife is discouraged as she tells Job to just curse God and die!
Despite all of this, Job remains faithful to God. Throughout the book, Job is “encouraged” (I use that term very loosely) by three friends who tell Job that all of this is happening because he must have sinned. The diatribe of these so-called “friends” is enough to make anyone run away screaming! Even though at one point Job does kind of whine and complain to God, He never once loses his faith in God; he never stops worshipping God.
When I worked for a Christian TV Network, I was part of the worship team when we had Chapel. There was a time when I was going through a very difficult trial. It weighed heavily upon me to the point where I could barely breathe. One day, we were rehearsing, and we were practicing a song called “I Trust You.” The words to the song hit me so much that I couldn’t play my flute because I was crying so hard. My coworkers gathered around me and prayed for me. That song became my mantra all through that struggle.
If you are in the middle of a trial and it seems like there is no light at the end of the tunnel, let me leave you with the words to the song, “I Trust You.”
CHORUS:
I trust You, I trust You,
I trust You, Lord, I do.
I never even worry.
That I might not make it through,
Because I trust You, I trust You,
I trust You Lord, I do.
Because I know You love me,
I will always trust in You.
VERSE:
I don’t need to understand.
all about the workings of your Plan,
I don’t always have to see.
everything that lies ahead of me.
But as long as I can know,
I’m in the power of your hand,
I can believe,
That You are gonna make me stand.
I don’t know very many people, who when faced with that kind testing, would say, “Praise God!” Although there are some who continued to trust God despite the hardships they were under. They kept their faith in Him, knowing He had a better plan and that He would bring them through. They, like Job, could say, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” I see that word “hope” also to mean “trust.” Job trusted that God would see him through.
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