What will you do during the Storm?
In chapter 1 of the book of Job, we read the story of Job, and his sufferings. The bible says that Job was honest inside and out. He was a man of his word, totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. His wealth included seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants. He was the most influential man in all the east (Job 1:1-3).
The scripture says that when Job’s children would party like there was no tomorrow, he made it a habit to get up early the next morning to make sacrifices for them, just in case one of them may have sinned by defying God inwardly (1:4-5)
God tells Satan that Job only serves him because he blessed him with prosperity. If you take away all that he has, he will surely curse you to your face (Job 1:11). God allows Satan to test Job’s faith. All of a sudden messengers start coming in with bad news for Job. Raiders stole the oxen and donkey. Other raiders stole the camels and killed the herders. A wind toppled the house where all his children were partying crushing all his children. Messenger after messenger with devastating news. Job lost everything! Satan was sure that he had won- that Job would now curse God to his face, but the unexpected happened! Job began to say; “The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away! Praise the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Instead of cursing God, Job began to worship God!
Job was in a storm. One definition for a storm from dictionary.com is, “to attack or assault persons, places, or things”. This reminds me of a storm that happened a few short years ago - Katrina. Hurricane Katrina shot through Louisiana so quickly and with such devastation. This storm brought out the best of humanity - heroes, good deeds, sacrifice, and toughness, it also brought out the worst in people - greed, selfishness, and murder. My question is, How will you act during your storm? We all go though storms in our lives. Maybe not natural storms, but a spiritual storm that blows at our faith in God. This was the case for Job. After losing property, position, and people he loved, He fell to the ground and worshipped God. Why was Job able to do this? Because Job looked at what was left instead of what was lost. Despite the storm, he still had his faith in God. Most people get depressed and turn to other things in the midst of a storm, because they hold a “scarcity mentality” instead of an “abundant mentality”. A scarcity mentality will cause you to look at loss, at what you don’t have. An abundant mentality will allow you to see potential, to see what is to come - to see that God’s word never goes out void, but will accomplish the thing to which it was sent. It is one of these ways of thinking that will cause us to either to worship during our storm, or complain during our storm. What will you do the next time you go through your storm.
Be encouraged when going through your storm, don’t look around at what was lost but look inward to the presence of an Almighty God. Then you will be able to worship during the storm.
In chapter 1 of the book of Job, we read the story of Job, and his sufferings. The bible says that Job was honest inside and out. He was a man of his word, totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. His wealth included seven thousand head of sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants. He was the most influential man in all the east (Job 1:1-3).
The scripture says that when Job’s children would party like there was no tomorrow, he made it a habit to get up early the next morning to make sacrifices for them, just in case one of them may have sinned by defying God inwardly (1:4-5)
God tells Satan that Job only serves him because he blessed him with prosperity. If you take away all that he has, he will surely curse you to your face (Job 1:11). God allows Satan to test Job’s faith. All of a sudden messengers start coming in with bad news for Job. Raiders stole the oxen and donkey. Other raiders stole the camels and killed the herders. A wind toppled the house where all his children were partying crushing all his children. Messenger after messenger with devastating news. Job lost everything! Satan was sure that he had won- that Job would now curse God to his face, but the unexpected happened! Job began to say; “The Lord gave me everything I had, and the Lord has taken it away! Praise the name of the Lord” (Job 1:21). Instead of cursing God, Job began to worship God!
Job was in a storm. One definition for a storm from dictionary.com is, “to attack or assault persons, places, or things”. This reminds me of a storm that happened a few short years ago - Katrina. Hurricane Katrina shot through Louisiana so quickly and with such devastation. This storm brought out the best of humanity - heroes, good deeds, sacrifice, and toughness, it also brought out the worst in people - greed, selfishness, and murder. My question is, How will you act during your storm? We all go though storms in our lives. Maybe not natural storms, but a spiritual storm that blows at our faith in God. This was the case for Job. After losing property, position, and people he loved, He fell to the ground and worshipped God. Why was Job able to do this? Because Job looked at what was left instead of what was lost. Despite the storm, he still had his faith in God. Most people get depressed and turn to other things in the midst of a storm, because they hold a “scarcity mentality” instead of an “abundant mentality”. A scarcity mentality will cause you to look at loss, at what you don’t have. An abundant mentality will allow you to see potential, to see what is to come - to see that God’s word never goes out void, but will accomplish the thing to which it was sent. It is one of these ways of thinking that will cause us to either to worship during our storm, or complain during our storm. What will you do the next time you go through your storm.
Be encouraged when going through your storm, don’t look around at what was lost but look inward to the presence of an Almighty God. Then you will be able to worship during the storm.
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