Over the last few months, I’ve been studying Job who had been a wealthy man but was struck by tragedy. He lost his children, his livestock, and his property. Then, he is afflicted with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head (Job 3:7). 

He reaches a time of great sorrow because of the anguish and misery he was going through. He agonizes over why God is letting these bad things happen to him. He says God made him, gave him wealth, showed much kindness to him but now God has allowed him to drown in affliction (Job 10:15).

Job became frustrated with his friends because they were giving advice that he already knew. He feels his friends do not respect him and look down on him. He wanted them to listen and show some sympathy, but they only saw his suffering and believed it was his fault for his situation.

Then Job begins to think the source of his troubles came directly from God who drew his net around him (Job 19:6), blocked his way (v. 8), and uprooted his hope like a tree (v. 10). Job says the hand of God has struck him (v. 21).

In Job 30, Job’s friends no longer respect him like they did in the past. In fact, they detest him and even his family has turned against him, so Job is discouraged. He feels like he’s being punished for his past faithfulness to God instead of being rewarded so he complains about his sufferings and that he has lost everything.

The ending of the Book of Job is a happy one as Job repents and his life turns around as he reunites with his wife, he has more children, his friends help him, and God blesses him with twice as much wealth as he had before.

God’s grace keeps flowing and flowing. The Spirit then prepares our hearts and minds for God’s Plan. We can reflect on the past so we can go forward using our experiences to build on this plan as we put our faith into practice.

To help put our faith into practice, we need to be reminded of God’s goodness. The Psalms are personal and public poems of worship used as hymns to remind us. In the weeks ahead, I’ll be sharing my thoughts along the journey of Psalm 42-51.

We need to be replenished throughout our day to satisfy our thirst. It may begin with an inspirational song, a good memory, a walk along a road surrounded with trees as the wind plays a mellow tune across space and time that brings an idea or thought with the hope of a breakthrough in our life.

Breakthroughs come by receiving the power of the Holy Spirit which is obtained by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior. Then stepping ahead with discipline and seeking the truth of God. Jesus demonstrates these positive steps to victory throughout the Gospel.

Things in this world can shake us up and fear can hold us back but we can run through the fire with Godspeed and not get burned. Our trust in God is a big plus and we will not be shaken for He is with us. With unstoppable hope, let us step ahead to victory by applying our faith and building a winning tradition of accepting the love of God in Christ.

Like Job, we can throw away a negative past that controls us and wants to keep us down. Instead, we can empty out that past from our mind with one thought. The thought that Christ died for all. Then, the load will be lighter so we can be lifted to a higher level of faith, hope, and love.