Job: 'A Blameless, Upright Man'

Three quick observations from the first chapter of Job, following Bro. Robert's class last night.

Job is a man of God: Right off the bat, we're introduced to Job and all that he is blessed with. In Job 1:1, Job is described as a man who was "blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil." Later in verse 8, God describes Job in the same way, paying Job one of the highest compliments -- if not the highest. Job respected and revered God, and in turn, God commended him for that. How would God describe you and me?

Suddenness of Job's losses: In v. 16-18, we find the phrase "while he was still speaking" three times, alluding to the surviving servant's rush to tell Job what had happened. It wasn't as if Job was informed of these disasters throughout the course of a day or even a week. He was told of them one right after another. We all have gone through tough circumstances in our life -- a loss of a loved one, loss of a job, etc. God doesn't promise us, as His children, deliverance around trials, but deliverance through those trials. "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience" (James 1:2-3).

Job has great perspective: After losing his possessions, servants and children in four separate attacks, Job tears his robe, shaves his head -- and worships God. "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 1:21). If all that were to happen to us, would we have the presence of mind to worship God, just moments after disaster strikes? The temptation to blame God or even say there is no God would certainly be knocking at our doorstep. But "in all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong" (Job 1:22).