Seeking God’s blessings when life shatters around us challenges even mature Christians. How do we see the Father’s hand in our lives when nothing looks like we hoped or prayed for or imagined? When everything we thought we had crashes down around us?
Last month, we looked at Praising God in the Unthinkable. As we seek God in the midst of trials, let’s look at Job, the expert on surviving a shattered life.
…Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 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.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job 1:20-22
Job’s life fell apart in one horrible day. It began with his children partying at the home of the eldest son. Between chapter one verses 13 and 19, his livestock, servants, and all of his children are destroyed by Satan with God’s consent. (Job 1:13-19)
Most of us will never have a day like Job. Most of the time, there is at least some reprieve between our tragedies, but not for this poor man tested by God’s permission. (Job 1:9-12) At one time or another, most of us have felt as if Satan was in full attack against us, and we can relate to Job.
Seeking God’s Blessings Enables Our Praise
Seeking God’s blessings when life falls apart has the power to interrupt Satan’s plans. We accomplish
that best when we praise God.
Job’s first act was to mourn. In the tradition of his day, he tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he took his pain and grief to God: ““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.” The narrator tells us, “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” (Job 1:22)
Job acknowledged God’s right, as LORD, to do whatever he wanted with Job’s life, his family, and his livelihood. But then, in humility, he praised the name of the LORD. Job honored God, rather than cursing him for the loss. Job stood firm in his faith.
Satan’s desire is to defeat us, trap us in sin, and cause us to reject God, but the LORD sees our pain. He treasures our tears. Our spiritual enemies, doubt, fear, hopelessness, anger, helplessness, and a sense of unrest flee when we offer God praise. There is power in refusing to yield our trust.
God honored Job’s faith: “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.” (Job 2:3)
Satan poses a challenge, “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.” (Job 2:4-5)
Praise disrupts the plans of our enemy, Satan. When we seek God through praise, he infuses us with hope, courage, and strength.
Seeking God’s Blessings Reminds Us of Our Hope in God
The truth is that good people often lead shattered lives, broken, and void of hope. Being a committed Christian doesn’t exempt us from trials. However, a broken and messy life doesn’t disqualify us from experiencing God’s blessings.
Because Job held firm in faith, Satan petitioned God again, asking permission to afflict Job’s person. God agreed, as long as Job’s life was spared.(Job 2:3-6) Satan cannot touch us beyond what the Father allows.
As a result, poor Job was afflicted with sores. In his misery, he sat among the ashes, scraping himself with a shard of broken pottery. Mrs. Job, the person whose love and support should have encouraged him, instead offered only discouragement. She asked, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” Even those closest to us will disappoint, but God never will.
Job’s response is one of the most powerful statements of trust in all of scripture. “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” And the writer notes, “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.” (Job 2:10)
Concentrating on God’s character and attributes, that he is loving, good, compassionate, sufficient, and true, produces hope. In Romans 5:3-5, Paul writes, “but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Seeking God’s blessings in hardships destroys Satan’s power over us. Praise enables us to discover the LORD of hope, who brings good out of bad.
Seeking God’s Blessings in our Suffering Enables Us to Give Him Glory
Despair and discouragement cause us to wallow in fear and doubt. However, God’s purpose is always that he be glorified. People discourage, but God always encourages. He wants us to triumph over trouble.
When Job’s friends arrive, he breaks down and curses the day of his birth. He wonders why he’s being punished, and justifies his doubts to his less-than-encouraging friends. “Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.” (Job 7:11)
It’s all right to question God. He can handle all of our questions, though the answers may never be ours. God wants us to trust and not doubt.
In chapter 9, Job begins to list God’s great works. And in 12:13, he says, “To God belong wisdom and power; counsel and understanding are his.” In the midst of our “whys,” we must remember who God is.
Job says, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him; I will surely defend my ways to his face.” (Job 13:15) His statement agrees with Peter’s words from John 6:68-69, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.”
Trusting God is a choice. He is our only source of hope and peace. Praise him for who he is. Hold fast to his truth.
Job offers one of the most powerful examples of this in 19:25-27, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”
Angry, hurting, and confused, Job chooses to trust God, both for this life and eternity. He understands that God intends suffering for his benefit. “But he knows the way that I take; when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” (Job 23:10) Only God can bring blessing out of trials. In that, we see the glory of God.
Seeking God’s purpose in our suffering blesses us and enables us to glorify God. Even halting, fragile praise defeats the enemy and strengthens our trust. God intends trials for our good and for his glory—always for his glory.
Seeking God’s Blessings When Life Shatters Around Us Opens Our Eyes to God’s Works
Finally, after Job’s friends finish stating their often incorrect assumptions about God, the LORD 
speaks. He reminds them of his truth, and the incomprehensibility of his power and majesty.
Job’s response is simple. “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted … Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know … My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes.” (Job 42:1-6)
Seeing God’s character and works causes us to understand that his plans and purposes are higher than anything we can comprehend. His work in our lives intersects with the lives of others, involving more intricate situations and circumstances than we can imagine. When we praise God for who he is and what he has done, his truth permeates our hearts and minds and gives us hope.
Praise unlocks God’s power in our lives, strengthening us, and prepares our hearts for him to accomplish his purposes in and through us.
Seeking God Through Trials Leads to Abundant Blessings
As we near the end of Job’s story, we see God turning trials into blessings. God reprimands Job’s less-than-comforting visitors, and gives them the penance for not speaking the truth about him. Then, he vindicates Job of wrongdoing, saying Job will pray for them, and he will accept Job’s prayers.
“After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before … The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part … After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so Job died, an old man and full of years.” Job’s siblings arrived to comfort and console him. He was given abundant livestock. God blessed him with seven sons and three beautiful daughters. (Job 42:10-17)
God honors the trust we place in him. When we are faithful to praise him and seek him in all things, he proves faithful to us.
Seeking God’s blessings when life shatters around us reveals God’s truth, and reminds us that he is worthy of our praise.
Ever-present, ever-faithful, ever-loving God
Thank you, Diana! Yes, he is!
I particularly like this statement – In the midst of our “whys,” we must remember who God is. We will never understand the complete power, knowledge, and wisdom of God. We just need to trust in Him.
I like the reference to Mrs Job. When teaching about the patriarch Joseph to teens, I liked to refer to Mrs Potiphar. Her name was not provided in the story of Joseph, and yet she played an important role leading to Joseph’s imprisonment.
Thank you! Yes, Mrs Potiphar is as important as Mrs Job!
Learning to trust and hope in hard places. Very important for the times in which we find ourselves.
Absolutely imperative!