Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Tornado Watch

The book of Job is one of my very favorites in the entire Bible. Today in reading Job 1 one things really stood out to me this time and it is at the very end of verse 5 where I believe that Job put himself under a tornado watch so he would be ready for the real thing.  
5 When these celebrations ended—sometimes after several days—Job would purify his children. He would get up early in the morning and offer a burnt offering for each of them. For Job said to himself, “Perhaps my children have sinned and have cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular practice.

This was Job's regular practice he worshiped God regularly in the good times. He either knowingly or unknowingly was preparing himself for what was to come. The big one.

Another key to the Book of Job is the fact the God says to Satan in verse 8 that Job is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.” Which prompts the following conversation.

 9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
 12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

What if God said the same thing to Satan today about you? I'll have to admit it is a scary thought. The comforting thing is that the LORD does put restrictions on Satan. We may not see that in today's world but it is true. God is in complete control.

Verses 20 thru 22 is where we find out that Job was prepared.

 20 Job stood up and tore his robe in grief. Then he shaved his head and fell to the ground to worship. 21 He said, “I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”  22 In all of this, Job did not sin by blaming God.
 
In case you are not familiar with the story of Job he loses everything he owns and his children are all killed in a tornado all on the same day. When you read verses 20 - 22 you may wonder how in the world could I guy ever react like this. It all goes back to verse 5. Job prepared himself for the storms in life during the good times so he was ready. Just because you are a Christian does not mean that life is smooth and easy. It in fact may be very difficult because of it. However if you are prepared you will still grieve, but you will still be able to praise the name of the LORD and not sin by blaming God. If you are a Christian you should be under a tornado watch. Job is proof that just by being a Christan means that conditions are favorable for tornado's to develop.

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