DAD'S RAMBLINGS -- GOD IS FAITHFUL

DAD'S RAMBLINGS – GOD IS FAITHFUL

"After this Job opened his mouth, and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said: 'May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, "A male child was conceived." ' " (Job 3:1)

Have you ever been in such pain and suffering that you said, "I wish I had never been born"? If so, you are not alone. Job had the same thoughts, as have many of the rest of us.

It may have been physical pain. It may have been emotional pain. But sometimes we hurt so badly that we think it would have been better if we had died at childbirth or as an infant. Then we would not have to endure such agony.

" 'Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; then I would have been at rest' " (Job 3:11-12).

Job thought even as an adult, that it would be better to die that to live with such suffering. " 'Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than hidden treasures?' " (Job 2:20-21).

I don't have all the answers, but I still believe that God has purposes for every life – even when we hurt so deeply. God had purposes for Job's life. And He had a purpose for Job to suffer. It was that God might reveal Himself in a greater way.

Job was the battlefield between God and Satan. But God had other purposes. God knew that Job would not lose his faith in the face of disaster. Remember what God's Word says: "The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure" (I Corinthians 10:13 NLT).

When life seems to be more than we can handle, we can trust Him. One of the favorite hymns of the centuries is, "How Firm A Foundation." Listen to the words:

Fear not, I am with you, O be not dismayed
For I am Thy God, and will still give you aid

I'll strengthen you, help you, and cause you to stand

Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand

When through the deep waters I call you to go

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow

For I will be with you, your troubles to bless,

And sanctify to you your deepest distress.

When through fiery trials your pathway shall lie

My grace, all-sufficient, shall be your supply.

The flame shall not hurt you, I only design

Your dross to consume and the gold to refine.

The soul that on Jesus has leaned for repose

I will not, I will not desert to His foes.

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake

I'll never, no never, no never forsake.

God brought Job through his trials. And He will deliver us. God is faithful, even in our times of distress.

Love, Dad