Job 1:21 [Job] said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Can you imagine praising the Lord after losing everything in life important to you? I can’t. I struggled with praising God after losing out on a promotion recently. I even get mad when my fantasy football team does poorly. Yet in today’s reading, Job prays words of acceptance and graciousness after losing all of his possessions, his wealth, and even his children.
Job reminds us that each day of our lives is a gift of unmerited grace given by our Creator. I wrote this on my 16,800th day of life. That’s a lot of days, and I have taken far too many of them for granted.
I didn’t think about the gift of being able to run until a pulled muscle made it hard to even walk. I wasn’t able to praise God in the midst of the injury either. But maybe I will remember Job’s faithfulness and pray for the grace to respond differently next time.
MOVING FORWARD: Are you mourning a loss of some sort today? Can you find a way to respond like Job, with acceptance and graciousness? If you’re not ready for that yet, simply ask God for strength and courage to move in that direction.
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