Blessed be the name of the LORD (Job 1:21)

I have noticed that when I am tired and run-down, I get irritable and grouchy. My discomfort leads me to sometimes think ill of those who love me. I hate that. I hate when I think ill of others just because I am uncomfortable or don’t get what I want or think I deserve. Such a sinner I am! I hate complaining and whining. I hate coming unglued. If this attitude is allowed to fester, my impatience will spill over by accusing those who love me of wrong. I accuse them for not treating me as I think I ought to be treated. Then I become despondent when I can’t control my selfish pride or fundamentally change what I am. All of this turmoil teaches me something far more important than that I am a great sinner. Why should I wrongly accuse those who love me? I enjoyed their kindness in the good times. Why accuse them of evil in the bad times?! Such is the tendency of my fickle heart.

Scripture uses our ugliness to teach us a much greater lesson. The LORD made us (Ps. 100:3). We live by Him. We live in Him. We have our very being from Him. Whatever we have, we have received it from His hand, out of His bounty, because of His goodness, according to His sovereign, good and holy will. Can any one consider all the good we have received from our great God and Savior and yet claim that He is not good?! It is a sad reflection on us, that when something is taken from us, we are quick to think evil of our God.

When trouble comes, when it comes to those we love, when we are tired or hungry or sick or uncomfortable; when we lose our property, miss opportunities; when others fail to recognize us, or when life itself fades from us, we may think negatively of our God. But in all of these “subtractions,” we must remember this principle: The LORD is good (Ps. 145:9, 17). Our Maker is good, and He is good to us! He upholds and orders all things according to His will (Eph. 1:11). All that He does is good (Ps. 72:18). He gives. And He takes away. Was He good when He gave? Yes. He was good when He gave us all that we have. Is He still good when He takes from us? Yes. He is still good when He takes from us. What concern should it be of ours whether He takes from us by the hand of a tax-collector or by political leaders, or by upheaval in creation, or by a robber, or by a false-accuser or persecutor, or by any other means? We must "commit the keeping of our souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator" (1 Pet. 4:19).

We must learn from Job. Job was afflicted in every possible way. He lost his possessions, his property and his children. He lost his health and all of the comforts of life. He lost his good looks. He lost sleep and was terrified by his dreams. His friends, and even his wife turned against him and accused him falsely. Now, when the slightest trouble comes to me, I am easily ruffled. I am ashamed to say that I am too sensitive to the words and actions of others! But God-given faith overcomes! By faith, Job said, “Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21). God was good when He gave me life. He was good when He brought me to manhood. He was good when He maintained my life and kept me from destroying myself by my foolishness. He has blessed me in all of my life. He doesn’t change (Heb. 13:8; James 1:17). Though my circumstances change, He does not (Mal. 3:6). And He is especially good when He gives me to see and know and embrace Christ in my heart (Heb. 11:13).

Therefore, remember: we live and move and have our being by the good will of our faithful Creator (Acts 17:28; John 1:3; Col. 1:16). He shined the light of Christ and His salvation into our mind and conscience. He has given us eternal salvation, an eternal inheritance, even all things in Christ (Eph. 1:3; Rom. 8:32). He has given us faith and hope to believe Him and look for Him and wait for Him. He has given us love to desire and follow and abide in our great Savior (John 6:68-69; John 15; 2 John 1:9; 2 Cor. 11:3). Therefore, give thanks in all things! Whatever God does in you and with you and around you, whatever “this” is in your life, it is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you which believe Him. “In everything give thanks, for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thess. 5:18; Rom. 8:28-39). Christ has obtained our eternal redemption by His own blood (Heb. 9:12). He now lives to save us to the uttermost (Rom. 5:10; Heb. 7:25). God the Father has blessed us in Christ from eternity with gifts and callings that He will not take away (Rom. 11:29). His love knows no boundaries of time or grace (Rom. 8:35, 37, 39; Eph. 3:17-19). He is faithful (1 Thess. 5:23-24; Heb. 13:20-21). He is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think (Eph. 3:20). But with Job, let us trust our God and ascribe goodness and greatness to our Savior (Job 13:15). Embrace the truth of who Christ is in His wisdom and power and righteousness and grace. In so doing, we glorify our God and Savior with that faith that He imparts by grace (Acts 18:27; 13:48; 3:16; Heb. 12:2; Eph. 2:1-10; Php. 1:29).

In recent years, someone coined and copyrighted this slogan for advertisement purposes: “Life is good.” But scripture preempts all such godless thinking. Men think the world around them and mankind are their god and savior. They therefore ascribe goodness to the world and things and themselves. But we must ever remember and hold fast to the most fundamental of all truths: the LORD is good (Ps. 14:2-3; Heb. 11:6). He only is good (Matt. 19:17; Ps. 14:2-3; Rom. 3:10-12). He was good when He gave us life. He was good when He took us naked from our mother’s womb. He was good when He delivered up His Son for us (Rom. 8:32). He was good when He raised us up together with Christ, even when we were dead in sins (Eph. 2:4). He remains good even now, in all of His providential dealings with us (Eph. 1:10-11; Rom. 8:28). Let us therefore praise Him from the low bottom of our heart while we live and have our being (Ps. 104:33; John 4:22-24). Let us praise Him now by living upon Christ by faith to His glory (Gal. 2:20). Let us thank Him and praise Him when we return again to Him, naked in ourselves, but clothed in Christ and having all things in Him (1 Cor. 3:21-23; Col. 2:9-10; Eph. 1:3)! We know and daily re-learn that we are naked in ourselves (Rev. 3:18-19). But by God's grace, from His word, we also learn daily that in Christ we are fully clothed (Rev. 19:7-8; Isa. 61:10). Let us therefore give all glory to our great God and Savior! Let us declare His goodness in the dark and troublous times (Ps. 46:1-3).

Rick Warta