Journey to Faith & Trust
Part Three
Job 1:21 NLT
“I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”
As I was writing and thinking about deconstruction and falling away from the faith, the story of Job was brought to my mind.
Job, a righteous man, a man of faith — God allowed Satan to put him through one tragedy after another as Satan sought to prove to God if everything was taken away from Job, he would curse God for his suffering. Instead, through his grief and mourning, Job praised God.
Though he was stricken by one heartbreak after another, though he was confused and depressed, he never cursed God. Instead, he turned to God and voiced his grief and pain and bewilderment as to why these things were allowed to happen, he never cursed God.
His faith in God stood even though it may have been shaken, he kept his trust in God.
Job had a childlike faith in his God rather than a childish one. Job’s story was the example of what true faith and trust in God should look like.
James 1:2–3 NLT
Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.
For much of my life, I didn’t have Job’s kind of faith in God. I chose to be angry and cursed Him. I had a childish faith. I couldn’t understand why all these terrible things kept happening to me. Instead of trusting Him, I chose to harden my heart, turned my back on Him and walked away.
Before I left for college, my pastor, Pastor Dave Strong, visited me for a short counsel. He gave me a passage from Proverbs that I never understood then, but I understand now:
Proverbs 3:5–6 NKJV
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths.
It’s human nature to want and to need to know the reasons why things happen, how they happen, and when they happen. It’s human nature to want and seek proof and evidence. We’re seekers of knowledge and truth. If it doesn’t make sense, then it must not be true or good for us. If we fail to understand or attain evidence, we toss it away. Self-reliance is key to our happiness and stability, right?
I once thought these things, but they all felt empty. I felt empty. Like I was missing out on something vital. I searched everywhere — refusing to look at religion or my faith as the possible answer.
Anger and bitterness kept me away from Him.
Childish behavior of a very immature child of God.
My finite mind could not grasp the reasoning behind everything that happened to me. I did not want to believe that a loving God would allow these to happen to me.
Anger and bitterness. Human emotions. Human nature.
It took a heart attack. A near-death health event to open my mind. Not just my mind, but the eyes of my heart. And when I prayed for His forgiveness, for His comfort, I received this peace beyond all understanding.
And I knew then, no matter what happened from then on, I was in God’s Hands.
