JANUARY 14, 2013
God
Must Love Me More
Read: Job 12:1-10
A [disaster] is despised in the thought of one
who is at ease; it is made
ready for those whose feet slip. —Job 12:5
During
a difficult recession, I organized a support group for fellow Christians
to
help them cope with unemployment. We provided resumé reviews, networking,
and
prayer support. One problem emerged: Whenever someone got a job, he
or she
almost never returned to the group to offer encouragement. That increased
the
loneliness and isolation of those left in the group.
Worse,
though, were comments from those who had never experienced a job loss.
They
mirrored the accusations of Job’s friends in his suffering: “If you were pure
and upright, surely now [God] would awake for you, and prosper [you]” (8:6).
By
chapter 12, Job is starting to express things in terms modern workers can
understand. He says that he feels despised by those whose life is easy (v.5).
When
things are going well for us, we may start to think that we who don’t have
troubles are better somehow, or are more loved by God, than those who are
struggling. We forget that the effects of this fallen world are indiscriminate.
We
are all loved by the Lord and we all need Him—in good times and bad.
The
successes, abundance, and positions that God has given to us are tools to
help
us encourage others in their time of need.
Give us the humility, Lord, not to act like Job’s friends
who accused him of sin because of his trials. Show us
how to help those who are struggling so that we might
give the kind of encouragement You have given us.
Humility toward God makes us gentle toward others.
Source: Our Daily Bread 2012
