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Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that had come on him, they each came from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite; and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and to comfort him. Job 2:11 WEB.

Righteous men have always been hard to find. Yes, under the new covenant, we have forgiveness, and our sins are covered by the blood of Jesus after we have accepted Him as our Lord, but it was not always like that. Thank God we live in a time of grace.

God would have spared Jerusalem if He could have found a single righteous person living there (Jeremiah 5:1). The Lord told Abraham that He would spare Sodom if He could find ten righteous there, but He could not (Genesis 18:32).

Job was a righteous man. The Lord pointed it out, and He praised Job. He told satan, "Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?" (Job 1:8).

The cynical satan could not believe that this was true. Was there really a righteous man that walked straight and narrow? One who could not be bribed or had no dark secrets to hide. If there was, he had never met them.

Cynicism: A studied disbelief. An inclination to believe that people are motivated purely by self-interest. Cynics begin to look inward at their own malice and think that everyone else is just like them. The devil believed that everyone else was just like him because many of them were, but not all. God has always had a faithful portion of mankind.

After a dispute over Job's righteousness, God allowed him to be tested by satan, proven, to see if he actually measured up. Job soon went through a terrible trial. Though he was the wealthiest man in the country, he lost it all In one day. Groups of raiders took his 500 yokes of oxen, 500 donkeys, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, and they killed his servants. A strong wind suddenly blew the house down on top of his ten children, and they all died. Job lost his seven sons and his three daughters in one day.

Job fell down on the ground and worshipped God, saying, "Naked I came into this world, and naked I will leave it. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord" (Job 1:21). In all of this, Job did not sin. That is great faith.

Three of Job's friends came to comfort him, and one by one, they gave long-winded speeches. They all believed that Job was suffering because of hidden sin in his life. They thought Job was living under God's judgment when actually God was proud of Job. In Job 42:7, God showed up in a whirlwind and set things straight. When Job prayed for his well-meaning but misguided friends, the Lord changed his circumstances.

"And the LORD restored the fortunes of Job when he had prayed for his friends. And the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before" (Job 42:10).

Job came out of the test with double everything: 14,000 sheep, 6,000 camels, 1,000 yoke of oxen, and 1,000 female donkeys. He also had seven more sons and three more daughters." (Job 42:12). Even his children were doubled, for the first were not gone, but living safely with the Lord. What a strange way to bless someone. Job went through the trial, and then everything that he had lost was returned double.

When Jesus said it is hard for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven, the disciples asked who can be saved? For it was thought that wealth and blessing were God's stamp of approval. While it is safe to say that a good life can stem from good choices, and a bad life can result from bad choices, many dire circumstances have nothing to do with the choices we made. The Apostle Paul was a righteous man that wrote a lot of the New Testament, yet he wrote this:

"Are they servants of Christ? (I speak as one beside himself.) I am more so: in labors more abundantly, in prisons more abundantly, in stripes above measure, and in deaths often. Five times I received forty stripes minus one from the Jews. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep. I have been in travels often, perils of rivers, perils of robbers, perils from my countrymen, perils from the Gentiles, perils in the city, perils in the wilderness, perils in the sea, perils among false brothers; in labor and travail, in watchings often, in hunger and thirst, in fastings often, and in cold and nakedness. (2 Corinthians 11:25).

I know some outstanding people who are going through some terrible times. Today, remember that if things are going great for you, it is not necessarily a sign of God's approval. And if things are going awful, it is not necessarily a sign of God's judgment or rejection. Stay the course, for you can be right in the middle of God's will and in the worst trial of your life, as we learned from Job. God was proud of Job, and his harsh circumstances came because he had done something right, not because of discipline or correction.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I thank You for everything You've done for me. I know that this life is not about me, but about You. Naked I came into this world and naked I will leave it. Please help me see the big picture while I am here and not get lost in my own problems. Forgive me of my sins and lead me into all that You have for me today. In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen!

Note: 'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God.' (Philippians 4:6-7) ~ If you have a prayer need, we are here for you! We and the prayer team are ready to lift you up at our private prayer page: RHM Prayer Network

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