The Struggle

Have you been in the place where everything was perfect? You were extremely content in where you were in life. You had a steady income, your family was happy, you were in your happy place. You felt like nothing can go wrong in life. But then you find out, you are failing school or you got laid off from your job. You found out that you have a serious health issue that needs treatment. You feel like your whole life is falling apart due to this tremendous situation that life has dealt you with. Everyone including myself, has dealt with situations that seemed like the weight of the world is on your shoulders. Unfortunately it’s apart of life, but we can definitely go through these situations. It won’t be easy but it is definitely doable.

So we meet a man named Job, he who hailed from the land of Uz. He was considered a very wealthy man at the time. Let us consider him the Warren Buffet of his time. Even God considered him as a noble man with integrity. “...My servant Job, that there is none like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil”, Job 1:8. He was the picture perfect man, who literally had it all. 

But then one fine day, the evil ruler of this world, named Satan, tried to deceive Job in turning away from God. Unfortunately God was in on this plan, God knew all along that Job was faithful. Satan comes up with a plan to destroy everything in Job’s possession. The one rule that God had for Satan was, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person” Job 1:12.  You see, Job was God’s child, just like you and me. In the book of Psalms, we read in Ch. 105:15 “Saying, “Do not touch My anointed ones, And do My prophets no harm.” We may face many struggles on this earth, the struggle may hurt us, we may feel like the whole world is crashing in on us, but God will never let it kill us. “A bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench; He will bring forth justice for truth.” Isaiah 42:3. God won’t let anything happen to us, while being in the midst of a calamity. 

So with Job, he literally lost everything. He lost all of his animals, his servants, his health and his children. His wife even cursed him. So this man had some serious struggle. But in his struggle, even though he was grieving all that he had lost, he found solace in worship. Even when life looks grim, when there looks like there is no hope, the best thing to do is worship. Worship may be the last thing you want to do in a struggle, but it gives you peace. It gives you strength to overcome. David, another man full of integrity, he was being accused of wrongdoing. He was being stabbed in the back, by a person he cared and loved. He wrote in the book of Psalms, Ch. 109:4, “in return for my love, they are my accusers, But I give myself to prayer.” In the struggle, worship is essential, it connects you to an all knowing God, who knows exactly what's going to happen. 

When you go through the struggle, let your friends know what your going through. Let them be your Aaron and Hur, men who lifted up Moses arms, when he was getting tired of lifting them, when the Israelites were in a war with the Amalekites. Job had those friends, they traveled a long way to be with him. They comforted him, and was there with him through the whole struggle. They supported him. 

So friends, when you are going through the struggle, remember that you will not be killed because you are God’s child. You need to worship, which will give you the peace to overcome whatever you are facing, and have a support team, to lift you up, when you can’t go on anymore.