And said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.
Job 1:21
He was short of perfect. He loved God. Satan thought he would crumble. He didn't. He trusted, even after everything was taken from him. His wife, his children, his money, his health. It all left. But Job still praised God. He wrestled, he asked why, but he didn't give up. He didn't betray his Savior. And after the test was over, God returned everything to him two-fold. Beautiful.
We are far from Job. The trials we have endured don't even compare to what Job fought, or what many people fight each day.But I would be lying if I said that this has been easy. The truth is, it has been excruciatingly painful at times. We have cried, we have yelled, we have fallen to our knees. Heck, we have fallen flat on our faces. Such a promising future, or so we thought. So much ahead of us, or at least that is what people told us. Were they wrong? What did we do wrong? Could we have tried harder? Did we make God angry at us?
These and many other questions have haunted us for over a year now. But then....but then. But then there is Jesus. I know His name evokes different emotions for many. Some anger, some fear, some just don't know. But we know Him. We have been chasing after Him since we first met, many years ago. I can't explain it in words, but He is real. He whispers in our ears, and He tugs at our hearts. He brought us each other. He brought us Hannah. He gave us Wake and all of our friends and experiences we had during our time there. He gave us family. He saved us from our past. He provides us with food, water, and shelter each day. He speaks to us through His Word that we study, and study, and sudy. It's a relationship that has grown with each joy and with each sorrow.
So how can we be angry at Him? How can we ask why? He is GOD! He does what He wants. And He promises that He works for the GOOD of those who love Him. We love Him. We hope you love Him. We know that our purpose here is to share His love. Because it has changed our lives. And it is changing our lives this very moment.
We are not Job. But Job gives us hope. Job teaches us how we should respond to this.
Thank you Jesus. We love You. Because You first loved us. Please forgive us for not loving You enough. Help us to hear You. Help us to listen to You. Because we know You are speaking to us. We know You are here. We will praise you in this storm.
Steve was released by the Tuskers today. They couldn't give him a reason, except that the starting center isn't as badly injured as they originally thought and therefore they don't need another center. The coach called Steve to apologize. He said Steve is a good player.Quick, agile, athletic.They want him to come back next year. Steve was told before practice today, and he still went out and played his heart out. That is my husband. What an amazing man. He was glad he was released instead of Kyle, his roommate, who has been with the team since training camp. He is younger and needs the income more than we do. Kyle hasn't had the chance to play in the NFL. He has a fiancee. Steve told Kyle about Jesus today. I have no doubt that Steve's teammates noticed something different about him. They knew he was getting cut before practice, but they saw him give everything. They must wonder where his motivation comes from. I adore him.
Steve had fun playing football today. He doesn't know if he will ever get to play again, but he will give his all at whatever is next. We have some ideas, and we will knock on all of the doors that God brings. We will head back to Charlotte on Tuesday, and we are very excited and thankful to return to our clients.
He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.
Job 26:7