Job 29:1-6 Job continued his discourse. “How I long for the months gone by, for the days when God watched over me, when his lamp shone upon my head and by his light I walked through darkness! Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house, when the Almighty was still with me, and my children were around me, when my path was drenched with cream, and the rock poured out for me streams of olive oil.”

If you know anything about the Book of Job, you know it is about a man who went through a long and fiery trial during which he lost everything, including his health. To my mind, it is one thing to lose everything if you did not have very much to start with. I say this not to diminish the pain of your loss but with the idea that your recovery might not take very long. On the other hand if you go from great riches to rags, I imagine the pain is greater still. This is the circumstance that Job is lamenting – he had great riches and with it a large and wonderful family, position and influence. If you read through to chapter 30 you will even come away with the impression that the loss of position and influence seems to impact him even more than the loss of his wealth.

Have you experienced calamity in any area of life: divorce, loss of the high flying job that made you the envy of your peers, loss of the athletic prowess that brought you praise, or do you remember fondly when you had money to burn and share with  more friends than you could count? Yes? All is not lost, so long as you are still alive and, I assure you, God is still on his throne.

The interesting thing about Job’s situation is that God considered Job as his servant who was “blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil”. (Job 1:8). Nevertheless God had allowed this trial by fire. The elements of the trial were engineered by the devil, but God drew a line in the sand that he could not cross – Job’s life was off limits – Hallelujah!  Job was mistaken that God was no longer watching over him. What about you? All that God wants is to give you a new vision of Himself without the filter of life’s trappings. Then he can pull you up again and your perspective will be forever changed. The Holy Spirit gave me this assurance:

“I am a faithful God. I do not destroy my children’s lives for the fun of it. My purpose is preeminent. My love compels me to restore the penitent child. That is the nature of my love.”