S151P1 – When the sun sets: Job
Job 1:18-19
While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
For those of us who live in a temperate climate, we know what it is like to await the guarantee that things will change. If the summer gets too hot, it eventually will yield to autumn. If the winter gets too cold, the spring will change that soon. For those who prefer a more constant climate, they will move to places without such drastic changes between the seasons. It certainly would be a dream for many people to live in a tropical locale where it is always warm but never hot, where the breeze off the water always cools. Although there are locations in this world where this might be the case, life does not follow the same pattern. More often than not, we will experience drastic changes in the seasons of time as we live through these years.
Job enjoyed much prosperity in his life. This passage is what we can call the end of his doomsday message. Prior to this he had been advised that his livestock was no more and his servants were no more. The people and property who made up his life were gone. He was left only with his wife, and her response to this loss was not encouraging. So bad was this new season of life, that she told him to curse God and die. [2:9] The sun appeared to have set on their prosperity, and this is where the character of these two people was exposed. Where she became indignant toward the God who had blessed them so much, he kept his cool. [1:22] He also recognized that life would not be just roses. [2:10]
A day will come when we will experience light without darkness, but that day is not here yet. In this world, we must settle for both. This is not to say that God cannot bless us during the dark times, but we certainly look forward to the light. Regardless of what we experience, the important thing is recognizing that God is in it all. Our suffering does not mean that He has left us. He is no less loving and great simply because sadness comes. The sun might have set for a time, but it will rise again. No matter the season we must endure, we are still blessed and still loved, and we should approach God the same. Father, help us to endure the dark times with the same hope, faith and confidence we experience during the times of light.