"All that mankind has done, thought, gained or been: it is lying as in magic preservation in the pages of books."
-Thomas Carlyle

by Paul Lytle

He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
and naked I shall return there.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the LORD."
-Job 1:21

I often turn to the first chapter of Job for meditation. There is something about Job's early struggle here that moves me and comforts me. Surely I have hardly a fraction of what Job had, and God has demanded from me hardly a fraction of what was taken from Job. Yet his faith here astounds me because I have such trouble attaining it. Take a look at what is said that Job had:

His possessions also were 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, 500 female donkeys, and very many servants; and that man was the greatest of all the men of the east. -Job 1:3

Now, even at today's standards, this is a description of great wealth. But if the exchange rate here is confusing us, take a look at the last phrase: he "was the greatest of all the men of the east." What does that mean? Well, we are told almost exactly what that means much later in the book, when Job describes the power he had in his land:

When I went out to the gate of the city, When I took my seat in the square, The young men saw me and hid themselves, And the old men arose and stood. The princes stopped talking And put their hands on their mouths; The voice of the nobles was hushed, And their tongue stuck to their palate. -Job 29:7-10

We are speaking of a man so powerful, so respected, so feared, that even princes would silence themselves around him. And yet, as we learn in verse twelve, the poor felt free to call upon him, and he would give them what they needed. This mix of power and charity strikes me as wonderfully just — the powerful felt humbled around him, and the humble felt powerful.

And in a single day, almost all of it was taken away:

Now on the day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabeans attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, "Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house, and behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people and they died, and I alone have escaped to tell you."

-Job 1:13-19

Job's response is amongst the greatest statements of faith that I have ever before read. The Bible teaches us that "Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20).

He worshiped. He worshiped. I cannot help but be astounded by that simply word. I remember a hundred times in my life where I faced the smallest adversity, and I went to the Lord demanding answers, wanting to know why He would put me in such a place. I fear that, at times, I am more like the wife of Job, who counseled him to "[c]urse God and die" (Job 2:9).

What is going on with Job here? Is he mentally ill? Is he stupid? Is he so brainwashed by his local church that he cannot function? Of course the answer to all of these questions is no. No one who was mentally ill or stupid or brainwashed could have amassed such wealth and power, power over even princes, as Job had. Job knew something by his own experience that Scripture would later tell us in full. He knew through his own obedience two important things about God, and these two truths, secured in his heart, would not allow him to turn his back on his Father.

First of all, he knew "that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28). That's it. That's all it takes. Job's faith in that truth was so great that he could not do anything but praise the Lord, because he knew that God was working for good.

Consider this for a moment. We have read that verse from Romans and understand what it is saying, but what would our lives be like if you truly and completely believed it all of the time? Would we not praise the Father for every misstep, every wrong turn, every stumble, every turn of luck, every ill deed? If we believed that verse without failing and without ceasing, would we ever stop praising the Father, even when everything seems to be turned against us?

This was not some theoretical belief for Job. This was not something he knew about God, but had never really experienced. This is something he knew in his heart, and something that could not be removed. It was part of his faith; it was something he knew because he listened to the Lord.

He submitted to the Father because he knew the Father could fix his problems better than he could.

Imagine that. Here is the greatest man of the East, and he left his problems in the hands of the Lord. In this way, he had gleaned a second truth about God that would become part of Scripture much later:

For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life? -Matthew 6:25-27

The stress of that single day could have killed Job. Imagine how many people give themselves heart attacks over relatively small matters. They work themselves to death, sometimes literally, over reports and numbers in a small section of a small country located in a small city in a small state in a small country, none of which has any effect on more than one percent of the population. They will become obsessed over each period and comma. What does that compare to Job? Job is the most important person on his side of the world, and he has lost almost everything.

Does it worry him? Does he succumb to the pressure? No. Why? Because he has trusted himself and his livelihood to God and God alone.

What reaction could have been better? There are forces at work in Job's life that he cannot possibly hope to control, no matter how great he is. How would worrying help? How would cursing God help him?

Job's response is the most faithful, most meaningful, and ultimately most productive one it could be. It is nearly unthinkable to us! It is nearly obscene for us to think about someone having that response to the deaths of his children. Yes, curse God and die, Job, but don't praise God for it! Isn't that what part of us wants? Isn't that want we would consider the right reaction? If something so sacred as children is taken from you, aren't you supposed to yell at God?

But we are tainted in that response, aren't we? In those hundreds of times I have cursed some injustice served against me, or demanded answers to a problematic situation, or simply wept in fear and hatred, I have never come up with a better solution than what God can do. The world tells us to stand up for our rights, to demand equality and justice, to cling onto what we have with all of our might. Yes, but what rights do we have? What claim do we have for justice (and before we answer that question, let us remember that justice demands our deaths for our sins)? What do we have that is so important to us?

Job has his priorities straight. Above his possessions, above his health, above his land, and even above his family, yes, even above his children, he honors God. He honors God with a trust and love that knows that everything is happening for the good.

These words that Job utters at the news that he is ruined provides us a high standard, and it may be a standard that we do not even bother trying to reach, for it is so remote. I certainly have not achieved it, but every step toward better trust in God is a rewarding one.

Seek the goal slowly. The next time you feel that swell of righteous indignation, stop and open your Bible. Read over the first chapter of Job, and then Romans 8:28 and Matthew 6. Meditate over what you read, and prayer.

Perhaps you will not cry out the words, "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD." Perhaps not, but seek God's purpose in these events. As you seek your answers from God, you will begin to see the patterns of His ways.

Perhaps that is what Job was seeing. Perhaps he had become so accustomed to recognizing the good in everything that he could accept that there was good in that particular day as well. He had a great faith to call upon the Lord in such a way. Let us pray for such faith in ourselves.

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