He said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
— Job 1:21 —
Uwe Seidel: European Bible Training Center | Germany
In March 2016, I was diagnosed with colon-rectal cancer. Barely a month later my beloved spouse was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Death was always a reality for us, but it was “out there.” Now the “shadow of death” had broken into our home. We were not the first in this dire condition. Amid severe, hurting loss, the believer experiences God in deep ways and his soul is lifted in heights unknown to shallow faith. Many years ago, a man named Job, a righteous and wealthy man of outstanding piety, was hit with the bad news of losing all his wealth to enemy forces, culminating in hearing all his children were killed in a furious storm. How did he react? First, Job was silent. As the bad news sank into his mind and soul, it left him numb and struck by deep grief. By no means a stoic, we see him rising, tearing his robe and shaving his head, silent expressions of his extreme grief and deep mourning. Stripped-down to his bare mettle, his core beliefs were about to be revealed.
Second, Job spoke. In godly piety, he realized that “we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either” (1 Tim. 6:7). Being a believer, Job says: “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.” Faith gives us eyes to see God is present and active in every situation, good or bad or ugly, and lets us run into His presence. Third, Job worshiped. Instead of cursing God, as Satan had predicted, Job blesses God. Amid severe, hurting loss, the believer experiences God in deep ways and his soul is lifted in heights unknown to shallow faith. Love, honor, and trust God as Job did, and rest assured that God will be with you in your deep valleys!
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