Job 1: 20-21
Then Job arose and tore his cloak and cut off his hair. He fell to the ground and worshiped. He said, "Naked I came forth from my mother's womb, and naked shall I go back there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"
When I first became a follower of Christ the book of Job intrigued me. If not for my utter love of the Gospel of John it would be my favorite book in the bible. I didn't know why I was so drawn to this book, I read it over and over again as a teenager. Shortly into my adult years when my first child was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis, and soon after that my second, it started to become clear why Job was so important. The trials of Job became my touchstone. When the storms of life would rock my world, I would say to myself "Job had it worse, I can do this". I'm not going to try and make you believe that I was never angry with God for the things that have happened through my life, no one should have to bury their child. But I will say that thanks to this example from the Old Testament I never turned my back on Him or blasphemed against my God.
In my experience we are all modern day Jobs. No one is exempt from the storms of life. And many of us experience downright hurricanes. Right now there are many people asking the question "why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer is that no one knows. But Job shows us how to respond. "The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!"
