Shaken

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (James 1:2-4 ESV). Someone recently asked me why I was doing so many devotionals from the life of Job. Part of the reason is that I have been drawn to its message over the last few months. I have read it several times; however, as I prepare to preach through it, I have dug more deeply than ever before. It is a wonderful book for our contemporary lifestyle. The basic message is that God is in control of all circumstances that surround the believer. The devil can do nothing in the life of the believer without the express permission of God. I find it true in the life of Job and in mine that when my faith is shaken, it only becomes more unshakeable. The truth is that a faith that cannot be shaken is a faith that has been shaken. And if your faith is real, it will even endure through the worst of circumstances, because character is not made in crisis; it is revealed. For example, when tragedy struck Job, we find him worshiping God, but we find his wife saying, "Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die" (cf. Job 2:9). Trials, temptations, and crises separate the wheat from the chaff, the true from the false, and the real from the unreal. Our reading today makes this strong statement that suffering helps us grow spiritually and makes us stronger in our faith. Suffering takes our faith from the realm of theory to reality, and suffering brings glory to God. Anyone can be happy when the sky is blue and the sun is shining. But when a storm is hitting, it is a different matter. Satan claimed that Job only worshiped God because God was blessing him. But Job proved that he really did love God, because he worshipped Him before, during, and after the crisis. Somerset Maugham, the English writer, once wrote a story about a janitor at St. Peter’s Church in London. One day a young vicar discovered that the janitor was illiterate and fired him. Jobless, the man invested his meager savings in a tiny tobacco shop, where he prospered, bought another, expanded, and ended up with a chain of tobacco stores worth several hundred thousand dollars. One day the man’s banker said, “You’ve done well for an illiterate, but where would you be if you could read and write?” “Well,” replied the man, “I’d be janitor of St. Peter’s Church in Neville Square.” God allowed the tragedy in Job's life to strengthen his faith and bring good to him. What a powerful example for us today.