... there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. His life was full for he had with him family, land, livestock and servants. Indeed, he was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it looking for an upright man” Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Satan answered, “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.”
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and wreaked havoc upon Job.
Job travailed through adversity but never "dissed" the name of God. After much and many problems and adveristy, friends came upon Job, convinced that he had committed great sin before God for it was beyond their comprehension that God would allow great adversity to a righteous man.
Job speaks to his friends:
But where can wisdom be found?
Where does understanding dwell?
No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says, “It is not in me”; the sea says, “It is not with me.”
It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
Where does understanding dwell?
No mortal comprehends its worth;
it cannot be found in the land of the living.
The deep says, “It is not in me”; the sea says, “It is not with me.”
It cannot be bought with the finest gold,
nor can its price be weighed out in silver.
Destruction and Death say,
“Only a rumor of it has reached our ears.”
God understands the way to it
and he alone knows where it dwells,
for he views the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he established the force of the wind
and measured out the waters,
when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm,
then he looked at wisdom and appraised it;
he confirmed it and tested it.
And he said to the human race,
“The fear of the Lord—that is wisdom,
and to shun evil is understanding.”
And God, out of the whirlwind of Job's despair answers,
"Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane ? Do you make him leap like the locust? His majestic snorting is terrible. He paws in the valley, and rejoices in his strength; He goes out to meet the weapons. He laughs at fear and is not dismayed; And he does not turn back from the sword.
The quiver rattles against him, The flashing spear and javelin.
With shaking and rage he races over the ground
And he does not stand still at the voice of the trumpet."
So, from the land of Uz comes this remembered lesson:
My life continues to experience life on lifes terms and that I am better than OK and,
it is more important to praise God when I am in the valley
more than when I am on top of the hill.
And like the magnificent and powerful horse into which God breathed life,
I will honor my strength and not be fearful and I will not shy away from the sword.
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