What defines You?

Scripture Reference: Job 1:20-21 "Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped, And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."

Looking at the life of Job, he lived a long time.  He grew up, got married, had children and raised them, buried them, and ended up having more children and raising them also. I find it interesting we judge him and define him over something which took approximately nine months of his life.   Yet via the events of this brief period in his life, most of us define the entire man, Job.

One thing we fail to realize is Job had a real relationship with the LORD.  He was not a part-time Christian.  He was not a once in a while church goer.  He was not a deacon on Sunday morning and sneaking out to the club on Friday and Saturday night.  No Job loved the LORD with all his heart and soul.  How do I know?  Well glad you asked me.  I will prove it in our Scripture reference.

You see, these tragic events came to him one on top of the other.  Not a moment to even catch his breath in between the news of the events happening.  Understandably he arises and rents his clothes and shaves his head.  These are signs of distress and of being loss or not sure which way to turn.  But then something interesting happens.  The bible says he "fell down upon the ground."  Fell down is denoted by the Hebrew word, "Napal" (Ney-pal).  One of its translations is literally "to settle down".  Why is this important? 

You see Job, like most of us, had a series of events hit him which tried to drive him "over the cliff".  As any normal person would, he reacted in distress, grief, and he felt the pain.  However, he quickly found his center, his rock, his grounding place and focused on His LORD and began to worship Him!  In this Job understood that it was the LORD who was in total control and He would never put more on him then he could bare.  Or you may say, "the steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD!"

Sometimes others will attempt to define you by a series of events or circumstances in your life.  They will say, "I know Brian, he's like this" or "You know he did this."  But when you have spent time with the LORD, and He is your Rock; when you fully trust in Him, then you will always be able to find your center and come back to Him.

Even if you do flip out for a minute, remember it is the LORD who is in charge, and it is He who holds you in the palm of His hand.

Thank You, LORD, for my relationship with You!