Book Of Job Essay, Research Paper

JOB

The book of Job has many things in it that pertain to my life. It tells me to never turn my back on God because he is always watching over me and taking care of me. Job went through a very devastating time were his family and servants were all killed by a horrible wind, his cattle and camels were stolen from him, and he got sores from head to toe and was forced to scratch the sores with pieces of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. That is pretty crazy and yet he never cursed God so he could die.

This is talked about in Chapter 2 verses 9 and 10, when Job is talking to his wife and she asks, ?Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and Die!? I know that Jobs wife was just looking out for Jobs best interests and didn?t want Job to suffer any longer and for him to leave the world and go to heaven. But Job would have none of this and he replied; ?You are talking foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?? In all this Job did not sin in what he said. I would have seriously gave it some thought if I were to go through something as miserable as what Job went through. That is why Job is such a wonderful Christian example to us all.

It would have been very easy for job to curse God and leave all the pain and suffering behind him on earth. But that would not have been the right thing to do from a Christian stand point. Job says in chapter 3 verses 25 and 26, ?What I feared has come upon me. I have no peace, no quietness, I have no rest, but only turmoil.? Job is not a happy man at this point in his life, but still he does not turn his back upon God. That is more that I can say for myself.

Job is and was a very righteous man that what I understand was pretty much sinless. I have never been through anything like job has gone through or even known someone that has had everything taken from him in a snap. And yet I do some pretty bad things and just push God away. For example, I will stay up real late on a Saturday night doing some pretty bad things and just not get up and go to church on Sunday. I don?t make this a habit but it has happened. I really feel terrible about doing this. I push God away knowing that all good comes through him, and the things that I do sometimes are not good and something that I know God does not approve of. This makes me angry and I am going to make a conscience effort to not ever let it happen again. I mean Job lost everything that was dear to him, and I lose nothing and still push God away. I am a little embarrassed about the whole situation and maybe that will help me in my effort to not ever let it happen again.

In chapter 4 verse 8 Eliphaz states, ?As I have observed, those who plow evil and those who sow trouble reap it.? Job wasn?t doing anything wrong, even God said about Job, ?There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man that fears God and shuns evil.? Again Job was doing nothing to wrong God and yet all that horrible stuff happened to him. That puts the fear of God in me. I wonder what God could do to a sinner like myself? That is scary to think about. Such a righteous man can go through so much and then you have me, a sinner that can go through so little. I have really never had anything bad happen to me or any of my friends or loved ones. I have put myself in many bad situations were a lot of bad stuff could have happened to me but looking back I know God was watching out for me every step of the way and I owe him greatly for that. I understand that all he wants me to do is turn my life over to him and let him take control, but sometimes I am selfish and have a hard time doing so.

I to wish that I could sit down with God face to face and just have a little talk with him just to see what he has in store for me. But that just cannot happen and I know this. In chapter 11 verse 7, Zophar asks Job; ?Can you fathom the mysteries of God? Can you probe the limits of the Almighty?? I know that I can?t fathom the mysteries or probe the limits, but I sure wish I could. God works in such mysterious ways. I was brought up in a fine Christian home were I got pretty much anything I wanted. I was your typical spoiled kid. We were always at church and I loved it. I loved going on retreats with my youth group and growing closer to God with all of my friends. I felt the Lords presence everywhere I went because the spirit of the Lord was with me at all times. I was a very good kid. I excelled in athletics in high school and loved playing for the Lord. I carried myself like a Christian. All in all it was the happiest time of my life.

Then it happened. I got away from my parents to come to college and kind of fell in with the wrong crowd and went buck wild. Trouble started following me around. Like Eliphaz said in chapter 5 verses 6 and 7; ?For hardship does not spring from the soil, nor does trouble sprout from the ground. Yet man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.? Well, something lit a spark under me and trouble definitely sprang up. I stopped going to church and started doing a lot of bad things that back in high school would never had thought about doing. I hurt a lot of people around me, especially my family. I had to lie to them a lot about stuff. I couldn?t believe I was lying to the people that had loved and supported me forever, but I did not care. All I could think about was me, myself, and I. My family was the last people on earth that I wanted to hurt, but I was oblivious to everything and just down right selfish. I was a totally different person then the Doug they used to know and in a bad whole and didn?t know if I would ever get out. Just like Job said to God, ?Remember, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again.? I really didn?t know if I would ever be as happy as I once was.

But, with a lot of help from God and my loving family I stopped doing some of the bad things that I was so accustomed to doing and have gotten my life back on track for the better. It is very upsetting looking back on that horrible time in my life and all the people that lost trust in me and that I hurt. I kind of felt like Job did in chapter 30 verse 15 looking back on my situation; ?Terrors overwhelm me; my dignity is driven away as by the wind, my safety vanishes like a cloud.? I could have gotten myself in a whole lot of trouble. To tell you the truth I am very lucky to be alive and have such wonderful support in my becoming a better Christian. I know God played a huge part in my still being here today.

I was and am very blessed by God and what he did for me. In chapter 5 verse 17 Eliphaz says; ?Blessed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.? I can definitely relate to that because of the horrible things I have done in my past. I needed correcting in the worst of ways and I was certainly blessed because the Lord was with me through the rough times and looked out for me. In chapter 36 verses 10 and 11 Elihu says to Job talking about God, ?He makes them listen to correction and commands them to repent of their evil. If they obey and serve him, they will live in prosperity and their years in contentment.? That is a very strong statement to me. It tells me what I need to do to make my life better in the eyes of God and he will make my life better, maybe even better than earlier.

In closing Job is a very excellent Christian example to me and for everyone. When I think I have it bad I will always remember what Job went through and realize that it is not that bad. I understand that the Lord took all of Jobs things from him for a reason. To see if Job would give up his faith in God, curse him and die. Well, Job didn?t and that makes him a hero in my eyes. He stood up for what he knew was right and hopefully I can pattern my life like his. After Job repented his sins in chapter 42 verse 6, saying ?Therefore I despise myself and repent in the dust and ashes.? He was given back much more than he had the first time. I will say it again God works in mysterious ways and the book of Job is an example of that. But, everything always works out for the best when you have the Lord on your side. I am going to do my best everyday to draw closer and closer to God.