Job is introduced to us like in any other story - but it is hard for us to locate Uz geographically and in what time period he lived. Maybe that helps us. Perhaps it is better for us to read Job thinking 'this was just a guy in some place at some time'. What we do know is that he was well blessed - a lovely family with extensive wealth, livestock and servants. We are also told he was blameless and upright - he knew his place before God and he shunned evil. He had deliberate rituals to keep himself and his family right before God.
We then have a sudden scene change: from the blessed family to a heavenly council. It is hard for us to imagine, and even harder is the concept of 'Satan' being free to join in. Satan means 'adversary' or 'accuser', but curiously he is allowed to roam and talk with God. Messing our heads even more is that God raises the subject of Job with Satan, pointing out how he is blameless. This prompts Satan to give a challenge: 'Job is blessed - but take that away and then see how he behaves!'. This is a classic challenge - people may worship when things are good, but what about when things are bad? Amazingly God agrees to the challenge and gives Satan freedom to bring doom onto Job.
This is hard to understand, but we can be clear on 2 things: A) God doesn't do the actual striking, that is done by Satan; B) God puts limits on Satan - so Satan is bounded and God remains in overall control.
So back on Job's estate all is well until a messenger runs up. A raiding party has taken the oxen and servants - only he survived. Before he had finished another comes - this time fire has destroyed sheep and servants. This report is barely complete when a third messenger comes with news of a different raid on the camels and other servants!
Notice how these come in quick succession from different directions: bam, bam, bam! Although so far these are all loss of property, it is the multiple random occurrences that are instructive. It is a phenomena my wife and myself recognise - when we are about to go into an intense mission time we have noticed different random things going wrong in quick succession. Some might have been trivial, others more troublesome ... but in their randomness they have all hit in the run up. We learnt to see these as 'meddling', and learnt to hold our nerve and keep our focus on God and the mission He has called us to in the days ahead. That is not to ignore or explain away the difficulties, but to not let them pre-occupy us.
For Job now a fourth messenger comes hot on the heals. The first three were all about property, but now this one is news of family: sons and daughters are all dead because of a freak wind. That has got to hurt - it is terrible news. Job responds accordingly by tearing his robe. He knew something was wrong - he shaved his head in mourning. And yet we are also told that he worshipped. Despite the acute pain, he chose to worship. Remember Satan's challenge - but look at Job's response. How would we react? Hence our key question:
[UP] How do you feel about God when things get tough?
Challenge: Choose to worship God no matter what
Job says that he arrived (born) with nothing, and that he will doubtless depart with nothing. He goes on: 'the Lord gives, the Lord takes away ... may the name of the Lord be praised'. In other words his worship is not dependent on what he gains or loses, but on God. That is his choice.
Let us understand that worship is a choice that we get to make. Remember it is way more than singing: it is making the decision to set your life in Him and His ways. It is choosing to live your life right with Him, living that out and declaring that out (it is in the declaring that the music and songs help us). Job patterned his life on worship: remember that when his sons & daughters partied he would sacrifice to God just in case, returning to God to set his life right with God.
As followers of Jesus we have one joint ritual where we do the same: our communion together. We remember that Jesus has died for us (so we don't need to do the animal sacrifice!), and so in communion we rehearse that in order to again set our lives right with God ... even just in case there is wrong in us we have not become aware of. And in communion we commune with God, choosing to be in Him and welcome Him to be with us.
Each day, as individuals, we can also do our own ritual to habitually set ourselves in Him and thus choose to worship. It might be using the simple prayer cards resource that I give to people exploring faith, perhaps starting the day with a simple waking prayer, for example. Remember that our choice to worship (or not) is a spiritual decision. By us worshipping, especially in the outward declaration, we are doing spiritual battle. Acts 16 with Paul & Silas slammed into jail is an example of this - they chose to worship and declare in song. It literally rocked the place they were in!
Our decision to worship: with our whole bodies, our whole lives ... habitually and purposefully, is important. The accuser will happily go around inflicting chaos and causing disruption, trying to draw attention away from God. But in the face of all that the true worshipper will say "No! God is God and His Name is blessed - this is my reality in which I am able and choose to live".
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