Trusting God in Hard Times

During yesterday’s exhortation, I touched on the sovereignty of God. 

We were reminded that God is in control, He does what He pleases, and He doesn’t respond to our whims and fancies. So if we pray for a thing as He asks us to do,  and we don’t receive it, we must trust and believe that He knows best.

That may have been a hard pill to swallow for some people. It may not have brought much consolation to somebody who continues to face a rough time in life. 

So today, I want to further reassure you with a reflection on the life of Job.

Job we know was a wealthy and righteous man who lived in the land of Uz. He was known for his commitment and devotion to God.

But one day, he found himself in a position where he lost all of his wealth, his children and even his health. We know of the circumstances there, as recorded in Job chapters 1 and 2, where Jesus gave the devil permission to test Job so to speak.

But what I want to focus on is when, in the midst of his suffering, Job basically threw his hands up and acknowledged that both his good and bad circumstances came from the Lord.

Job 1:21 reading from the English Standard Version ESV - “And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”” 

And Job 2:10 “But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?”

Here’s an exercise for you: Let’s take a few seconds and think about that one thing that you’re going through right now that makes you feel like you want to give up. That one thing that is really hard for you to understand 

And then think about Job and consider how he responded to all of this suffering. Verse 22 of Job chapter 1 says in spite of what Job went through, “In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” 

Can any of us compare that thing we are facing right now to something that Job went through?

We can identify at least four forms of suffering Job endured during this test:

Job 1:14-17 speaks to Job losing all of his livestock, which was a significant source of his wealth.

Job 1:18-19 speaks to the loss of his family

In Job chapter 2 verse 7, we see where Job’s health was affected.

And overall, we can understand the emotional anguish Job experienced through it all. He lost all of his possessions, his children, and physical well-being deteriorated.

Job was tested and tried. His story is used as a benchmark for patience and faith.

You may hear someone being referred to as having the patience of Job, meaning that in the midst of this great trial you are facing, you remain steadfast and maintain your faith and trust in God. 

We imagine Job must have prayed and fasted and agonised before God as he watched everything disappearing before his very eyes.

So what can we learn from Job here as we ourselves go through these hard times.

Job's story reminds us that suffering is not always a direct result of personal sin. So we don’t need to feel sorry for ourselves. Stuff is happening to us and we don’t understand it. Just trust in God's wisdom.

Again we are reminded of God’s sovereignty. We are going through, we don’t understand, just trust in God’s plan and surrender to His will, knowing that He works all things for our good (Romans 8:28).

For those of us going through some hard times right now, we can be encouraged by Job’s story as we see how faithful he was to God, even in the midst of his suffering. We can be encouraged to know that even in hard times, God is still in control.

Job was down practically to nothing, but he refused to curse God. Instead, he was resilient, he kept the faith, he persevered, he believed that God was with him, in spite of the hard times he was facing.

Job understood, and we too must understand, as Psalm 34:19 says “Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.”

We too can be encouraged by Isaiah 41:10 “fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

We can also consider that God can use our trials and tribulations as an opportunity for us to deepen our trust in God and grow spiritually.

James 1:2-4 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”

So the encouragement for us today Family, is to understand that whatever calamity we are facing, we can trust God to see us through, for He has a good purpose and a good plan for our lives.

God is present and our faith can sustain us through every hard time we may be facing. 

7May20224
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