DEVOTION – DAY 64

Job 2:10 “Thanking God all the time.”

 

Job 2:10 “He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”

 

It is easy to thank God when everything in our lives is going smoothly. But when things become troublesome, when bad things happen to us, it is a different. Many will begin to complain and wonder, “Where is God when I need Him?” Many may ask, “God if you love me, why are you allowing bad things to happen to me?” Many people begin to doubt God. They even stop going to church and they stop reading the Bible.

But let us turn to the book of Job. Job was faithful to God. However, he suddenly lost all his possessions, his wealth, his children and even his health. So, his wife who was beside him told him that since there was nothing left in life to live for, Job might as well curse God and die (Job 2:9). Job’s reply in verse 10 holds an important lesson for all of us. In all our lives, there will be good times and also bad times. Our aim in life is not to be happy and have a good time. If that is our aim, we will be disappointed because it is impossible to be happy all the time. There will be days where we have to change what we plan to do because the weather is bad, or our car broke down, or someone has fallen ill. There will be times in our lives when we grow old, fall sick, have a toothache or slip and fall. There are too many things that are beyond our control that might affect how we feel. So, our aim in life must be to live to please and obey God. Job reminded his wife that they must accept the good and bad things in life. Just as God have granted them good things in the past, they must also accept it when God allows bad things into their lives. That is what we see in the book of Job. He accepts his condition although things were bad and he never blamed God. Job’s desire was to live to please and obey God. In the end, God restored Job.

Fanny Crosby was born in 1820. When she was only a few months old, she became blind. At the age of 5, doctors who looked at her condition determined that her blindness was permanent. Fanny never blamed God. She accepted her blindness and she went on to write more than 8,000 hymns. Many of these hymns have become classics that we sing in our churches today. She praised God for all that He is and has done. She never allowed her own misfortune to stand in the way of praising and worshipping God. She had learnt to be thankful to God for the good times and also the bad times. This is because Fanny had learnt that in bad times, she became even closer to God. This too should be our attitude.

Let us pray: Heavenly Father, thank you for the good times and may we have the grace to remain thankful in the bad times. Help us to draw close to you in every circumstance and may we give you the glory. In Jesus Christ’ name. Amen.

 

Questions

  1. Can you share some things that you would like to thank God for this week?
  2. Can you share of a time when something bad happened and you thanked God nevertheless?
  3. Do you allow circumstances to affect you and your relationship with God? Discuss.
  4. What must you do to prevent circumstances from controlling your emotions and feelings and your relationship with God and others?