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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! ”
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 1:13-22
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In 2002, my wife of nearly ten years fell ill. I was getting ready to go to sea for a day and Grace was having abdominal pain, so much so that she didn’t want to get out of bed, unusual for her because she is always so active. As I got ready to leave in the morning, I made her promise me she would go to the doctor and get checked out if she was still feeling bad. And with that, I went to the ship and got underway.
It was later that afternoon when I tried to call home and check on Grace. There was no answer there and so I waited a little later. It would be early evening when I called again and there would still be no answer. I began to get concerned.
I called a local hospital to see if Grace was maybe there and she was, being treated in the emergency room. In speaking with those attending to her, I was given the first indicator that something serious was wrong. Due to privacy concerns, they wouldn’t go into specifics about what was wrong but did tell me Grace had a “blood disorder”. They asked me to call back in a few hours as they expected Grace to be in her room and able to explain everything to me.
Now very concerned, I found myself watching the clock, impatiently watching the minutes go by as I felt helpless over Grace being ashore and in the hospital while I was at sea. Indeed, the life of a Sailor isn’t easy…not on the Sailor…not on their family.
I would follow the advice of those who had been caring for Grace and called back in a few hours, expecting to talk to Grace. It was then that I learned that she had never made it to a regular room. Instead, she was placed in intensive care and would be transferred to the critical care unit at another hospital. I still didn’t know what was wrong nor would they tell me. The situation was becoming ever more frustrating and scary.
I had a Captain as the Chief Physician on the ship and he was able to call the hospital and find out what was happening with Grace. He was told she had a bone marrow problem and her platelet count was off the charts (over 4 million…300,000 was normal), causing major concern over whether she would suffer a stroke or not. It would still be 12 hours before I would be back ashore and so I did the only thing I could do. I prayed.
We pulled in finally the next day and I was allowed to leave immediately. I drove to the hospital, went to the intensive care ward, and saw Grace for the first time since she went to be seen. She couldn’t talk to me. She was out of it and hooked to so many bells and whistles it was frightening. I learned she had a blood clot in her aorta and they were very concerned that it might break loose and get into one of her arteries. They were also trying to get her platelet count to drop and were administering massive amounts of blood thinner as Grace’s blood was in danger of clotting due to the high platelet count. It was all so overwhelming. Was I about to lose my wife? I went back to prayer.
It was at this time that I received a word from the Lord, one that would transform me forever and place me at full peace and comfort. For the Lord reminded me in that prayer that Grace belonged to Him, not me. God had created her and brought her into the world…and at His appointed time, He would take her back. He would tell me I had no right to protest this. My only proper response was to give thanks to God that I was granted even one day of my life to share with Grace. He had ordained my marriage and our relationship…and deserved all the praise, honor and glory for that.
I came out of that prayer at ease. Grace was afflicted but she belonged to God first and her situation was fully in His hands. If this was to be the end, then I would give thanks to be blessed with such a loving, wonderful wife. If it was not the end, then God had ordained that we share more of our life together. Either way, thanksgiving would be in order.
My personal experience added a lot to my understanding of the remainder of the first chapter of Job.
You’ll recall Satan inferred that Job was blameless and upright in God’s sight because he hadn’t ever faced hardship, instead experiencing nothing but joy and prosperity. Satan was sure that Job would curse God if he were to lose what he had and face adversity. God then allowed Satan to have his way with Job with the exception of killing him, confident that Job would remain faithful and true. And with that, Satan went to work.
Job’s entry into tragedy and hardship began with his possessions. We read where “a messenger came” and told Job that the Sabeans had attacked and made off with his oxen and donkeys, putting all of Job’s servants “to the sword.” The first messenger didn’t even get time to finish when a second messenger arrived and brought more bad news. As the messenger explained, “fire of God fell from the heavens,” burning up all Job’s sheep and his servants. And as if this wasn’t enough, a third messenger appeared saying the Chaldeans had made off with all of Job’s camels but not before killing all his servants. In the space of just a few minutes, all if the livestock Job owned was gone in three separate incidents.
But the worst had not yet happened.
For a fourth messenger arrived with tragic news that would bring Job to his knees…news that his children were dead, killed when the house they were feasting in collapsed on them after being struck by a “mighty wind” which had “swept in from the desert”.
Have any of us gone through this level of loss in the course of any one day? I know I haven’t and Job’s experience made mine in the hospital look minor in nature.
How does a person deal with the depth of such loss? How could anyone have the strength to bear it?
I think this is what makes Job such an amazing man of God. For we read that in the midst of his deep mourning...mourning that led him to tear his robe, shave his head, and fall to the ground…he fell to the ground, not in a sense of despair, not in a sense of depression, but in a sense of worship.
It seems impossible…but I can relate in a way as God took me to the same place outside that intensive care room as Grace hung in the balance between life and death. A heart deeply devoted to God is a heart that worships Him, no matter the circumstances. Job defined this fact and his words in worship are words we all should remember and refer back too when we’re going through trials. He said:
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
Even in deep loss, Job would praise God. The God who gave him so very much had likewise taken away.
Job realized that all belongs to the Lord…all we are and all we have. We would be well served to see things likewise.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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