No One Wants to be Job, Part 2

If you’ve never had something happen that was so traumatic (for your or someone you love) that you collapsed to the floor, face down and prayed something like, “What the inferno, God?!”, I’d just like to tell you that the day may come for any Christian.

John 11:41-42 [NKJV] 41 Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up [His] eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said [this], that they may believe that You sent Me."

Not every Christian will go through Job-level trials. Not every Christian will know someone who does. But I believe that most of us who walk the Christian walk for more that a couple of years will have a moment or moments like this.

Last week I talked about being “Jobed” by God – that is God allowing Satan to persecute you to something like the level that Job endured. I also mentioned that when this happens to someone we care about, one of the best things we can do is to respond like Job’s friends – in the first seven days they were with Job. That is, we can sit quietly with them and share in their suffering.

When we are done sitting together in quiet reflection, we are going to want to pray a mighty prayer that saves, keeping in mind James 5:16 [NKJV] 16 … and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

“Effectual fervent” is defined as “to be active, efficient:—do, (be) effectual (fervent), be mighty in, shew forth self, work (effectually in)”.

If you are hoping for a magic formula for prayers that work, you may be disappointed. These words really mean no more than being active in prayer. No secret recipe for specific words to say or position to sit in, or length of time or warrior’s prayer closet needed.

God is simply telling us to mean it when we pray. Don’t phone it in. Be active in the prayer.

When we pray about Job-like trails, we will probably get emotional and that is perfectly fine. God can handle your tears and shouts. That is being active in prayer. We won’t “phone it in” on those days.

But let’s also keep in mind that if our prayers are focused by quiet and still, even just in our hearts, they can be “effectual” and “fervent” too. Remember: there is no magic formula. We should not make God out to be like Baal – or at least like the servants of the false god, Baal, thought he was – needing cries and jumping around and cutting ourselves to get attention. [See 1 Kings 18:20-29]

Elijah’s prayer was two verses long (compared to 9 verses – and multiple hours – of cutting and crying and pleading from the prophets of Baal) and brought down fire from heaven.

1 Kings 18:36-37 [YLT] 36 And it cometh to pass, at the going up of the [evening-]present, that Elijah the prophet cometh nigh and saith, 'Jehovah, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, to-day let it be known that Thou [art] God in Israel, and I Thy servant, that by Thy word I have done the whole of these things; 37 answer me, O Jehovah, answer me, and this people doth know that Thou [art] Jehovah God; and Thou hast turned their heart backward.’

Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead with a short prayer of thanksgiving. John 11:41-42 [NKJV] 41 Then they took away the stone [from the place] where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up [His] eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said [this], that they may believe that You sent Me."

Job-like trials do not happen to God’s people behind our Heavenly Father’s back. He knows what’s happening. You don’t have to be long and loud to impress God with your sincerity and faith. Be honest. Be truthful. Believe. God knows your heart. Just be you before Him and you too can “avail much” for yourself or others being “Jobed”.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section below or email me at any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org.

No One Wants to be Job, Part 1

Ask any believer – child or adult – which Biblical character they’d like to imitate or whose life they’d like to live, and you may get answers like Abaraham, Daniel, King David, one of the Apostles, Esther, Ruth or Deborah. But I’m pretty sure no one is going to say Job.

Don’t get me wrong, we all admire his faithfulness in such a severe trial. But no reasonable, self-respecting human is going to ask to go through that. In fact, we all probably secretly hope, or maybe some of us even boldly pray, that God will not “Job” us.

I certainly don’t want to be “Jobed” by God. It would be nice to know that the Heavenly Father was as proud of me and my uprightness as He was of Job’s. Looking at my life from the inside out, I don’t envision God saying, “Have you considered My servant, Nancy, that there is none like her on the earth, a blameless and upright woman, who fears God and shuns evil?”. [See Job 1:8] God pulled His hedge of protection away and let (almost) the full force of Satan’s evil access to Job.

While we may hope and pray not to be “Jobed” (or tried as Job was), I believe we all also hope and pray that if it ever comes to that we will show the faith and uprightness that Job showed in spite of a horrific trial. If I ever lose everything in one fell swoop, as Job did, I want to face it with the kind of faith he did and come out on the other side knowing that I was forever changed for the better by the experience.

Job’s story is definitely a “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” tale.

Job 2:13 [KJV] 13 So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that [his] grief was very great.

I’m thinking of Job and about being “Jobed” today because a God-fearing, God-serving, loving family is swimming in the churning sea of a life-altering trial right now. What they are going through has already forever changed their lives and they have no idea when they will come out on the other side – or whether that will happen in this life or the next.

If someone you know is having a Job-like trial, there are a few easy options from the Bible that strike me as a good way to help:

1.      Be like Job’s friends in the first seven days they were with him and just sit with your friend. Don’t give advice, don’t try to tell them it will pass, and don’t compare your trials to theirs (even if yours truly is worse). Just sit. Just be with him/her. [Job 2:11-13}

2.      Don’t be like Job’s friends after the first 7 days =

a.      Don’t try to analyze why they are facing this trail.

b.      Don’t point out their faults.

c.      Don’t try to speak for God.

3.      Pray without ceasing [1 Timothy 5:17]. And then pray some more. Ask everyone you know who is a God-fearing person to pray too.

4.      Stick with them through it all. [Proverbs 18:24] Don’t get weary in prayer or sitting with them. Proverbs 27:10 [NLT] Never abandon a friend--either yours or your father's. When disaster strikes, you won't have to ask your brother for assistance. It's better to go to a neighbor than to a brother who lives far away.

No one wants to be “Jobed”, but it may happen to you or someone you know someday. It may happen to me. If it does, we will need true friends to help us through.

I welcome your comments and questions. You can write me in the comments section below or email me at any time at Nancy@DynamicChristianMinistries.org.