Blessed Be the Name of the Lord

Picture Job. He just heard that everything he owned had been taken and all his kids had been killed. So, Scripture tells us, he "arose and tore his robe and shaved his head" ... makes sense ... "and fell on the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:21). Wait ... worshiped?? He famously said, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD" (Job 1:21). And Scripture tells us in so doing, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong" (Job 1:22). What did Job mean?

We all encounter unpleasant things in life. For many, "unpleasant" is an extremely mild description. Try "disastrous," "terrible," or "horrendous." We are all blessed in many ways and we all suffer loss in many ways. So what can we learn from Job here? First, note: Job believed that the theft of his wealth and the deaths of his children was ultimately from the hand of God. Later, when Job's own health was shattered and his wife told him, "Curse God and die," Job told her "Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:9-10). Notice that he understood both to be "from God." Do you? Second, Job freely accepted the good and the bad as from the hand of God. He didn't think God was being mean or negligent. When you encounter the negative, do you question God's goodness? Finally, Job blessed God. Job blessed God for the losses. That is, Job understood that God is in charge and God always does what is best and, therefore, these terrible losses ... were God's best. "Blessed be the name of the LORD." Do you?

We tend to think, when bad times come as they do for all of us, that it's simply a hardship to endure, an injustice to wait out, an evil perpetrated without purpose. If we don't actually blame God, we simply make excuses for Him. A temporary withdrawing of His protection for reasons unknown. A lack of faith on my part. "Just look at all the good God gives. I can endure some bad." But Job understood his tragedies, at least in some sense, to be a blessing from God. He did as Paul later commanded the rest of us; he gave thanks in everything (1 Thess 5:18). Do you believe that God is good ... all the time? Or is God open to our wise and superior judgment that sometimes His actions (or lack thereof) might not be up to snuff? Be careful how you answer.