Daily Morning Message 3/24/2021

MORNING MESSAGE
March 24, 2021
by Gayle Gordon

"...My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has. ”
So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job.
And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. (Job 42:8b-10)

The restoration of Job is so reassuring. With the help of my wonderful Scofield Reference Bible, I see that Job lost seven sons and three daughters, all his large household of personal possessions, his servants and helpers and 11,500 head of livestock. In one day. Job tore his clothes and shaved his head in his extreme grief, threw himself on the ground and worshipped God.

Then, his health broke down; he was covered with painful boils. Today, there is an extremely rare skin disorder named Job Syndrome: it's a STAT3 loss-of-function, autosomal dominant hyper-IgE syndrome. (I copied that online and I have no idea what it all means. The Word of God says "Job was struck with painful boils." I love His sufficient simplicity.)

His disease involved his entire body; he is literally unrecognizable. I cannot think of a worse condition. Boils can hit nerve endings and be extremely painful. They can be messy and smelly; they require lots of constant attention. Getting in any comfortable position would have been impossible. He sat in the ashes of what had been his joyful and fulfilling life, in crushing depression, scraping the boils on his body without saying a word. We often admit that we can always find someone worse off than we are, but I 'm not sure Job could have, at this point.
Three friends join him. They, in respect for his profound losses, also tear their clothing and throw dirt on their heads, weeping in sympathy. They sit in the dust and no one speaks - for seven days. He cannot hope to process the full scope of his losses quickly.
And still, God is near. In the long dialogue that follows, much truth is beautifully expressed, but the three friends miss the mark completely as to why this happened. God hears every word of their unwise counsel.
Job is not meekly mute; he explodes with expression. He maintains his integrity. He begins:
“May the day perish on which I was born, And the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’" (Job 3:2-3)
"“My soul loathes my life; I will give free course to my complaint, I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me; Show me why You contend with me." (Job 10:1-2)

He complains. He asks why. He weeps and mourns loudly. He is urged by his friends to admit guilt; he does not. He sits through all this in agony from the boils and worships God. He humbles himself and prays;
"“I know that You can do everything, And that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You...."

The Lord restored to Job seven sons, three daughters, 23,000 head of farm animals, and his estate of personal belongings and servants.
"After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations." (Job 42:2-6,16)

We can all experience losses almost too hard to deal with. We can blow up - fall silent - sit and scrape our emotional boils. Our Father is still loving us and will not forsake us. We can take comfort that our situation is known and we are under His care through it all. Our peace is restored when we spend time worshiping and praising Him with all our hearts, souls, might and minds!