Blessed be the name of the Lord

And he said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, And naked shall I return there. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; Blessed be the name of the LORD." - Job 1v21

We pick up here after yesterday’s account. Satan claimed that Job only served God because he had it made. But God knew his servant so He allowed Satan to put Job to the test.

I have mixed feeling about that to be honest. It doesn’t seem right that Job had to go through all he had to go through to prove a point.

But it goes much farther than that. God lets us in on this little situation to teach us that we are not the only ones who go through hard times. When things get tough we can always look here and see that there is a purpose in what we face.

Things got really, really, really bad for Job. In one day he literally lost everything (except his wife and friends, but more on them later). His property was destroyed. His children all died. He lost his livestock. Talk about a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!

So how did Job respond?

‘I came into this world with nothing. I will leave with nothing. God gives and God takes away.’

That’s great. It sounds a little fatalistic maybe, but a good attitude.

What makes it really special is what he says next – ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord.’

How often have you or I said ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’ when disaster strikes? Even more telling how many of us say that with sincerity and honesty?

It’s been a little bit of a tough week. Oh for the faith to say – ‘Blessed be the name of the Lord’ at times like this!