Page 25 - COVID-19 and the Church_eBOOK_Color_07.16.2020_Neat

Just like our friends, Job’s friends represented common
religious thinking. They had a need for things to make sense.
It gives us a false sense of control. People who sincerely have
a divine connection with God are comfortable discussing
their victories and their hardships with Him.
In so doing, we are able to draw nearer to Him, and to
better understand Him and His presence among us, and in
our individual lives. We learn to put our trust in Him alone.

“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean
not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Proverbs 3:5-6 (KJV)
Anyone who has been around the church for a while has
heard this passage of scripture preached over and over again.
Preachers love to preach about it. Singers love to sing about it and
church folk everywhere love to encourage one another with it.

But, few people are really able to comprehend what
these words mean until life’s backlash catapults them headfirst
into an ugly, dark, traumatic set of circumstances. And that’s
exactly what the COVID pandemic has done for the world.
A lot of us see the book of Job as a story of human
suffering. But, as we read on we see the greater picture. The
book of Job reveals four (4) things to us:

1. God is all-powerful and in full authority over
this world, Satan and our lives.

2. Satan has to get permission from God before
he can, so much as approach us.

3. God, having confidence in our diligence, allows
us to endure only that which we can bear.
4. When we are willing to give up everything
for God’s glory, He blesses us beyond our own
imaginations.