Samuel D. High
sdhigh@aristotle.net
-----Original Message-----
From: Apostle Tom <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Sent: Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:30:35 -0500
To: <pressingon@hotmail.com>
Subject: Morning Manna (June 5); BP: Job 1; RBTTY: Jn. 15; II Chron. 23-24
June 5 “Blessed Be the Name of the Lord”
“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 has taken away—blessed be the Name of the Lord’.”
Job 1:20-21
Remembering this will help our barren times to still be blessed.
What do you do when everything’s falling apart and everything you hold dear has been stripped away from you? What do you do when your children are killed and all you have left is precious memories?
Well, you can become bitter, “curse God and die” (2:9) or you can follow the example of Job, who still worshipped the Lord in the midst of his great grief. There’s no way to put into words the depth of anguish and despair that he felt; that’s why the Holy Spirit prays for us “with groanings which cannot be uttered” (Rom. 8:26).
It is these “baffled sighs of emotion” that form eloquent prayers and catch the ear of God. No doubt these are the same type groanings Jesus expressed that day at Lazarus’ tomb when Mary, Martha and the hired mourners failed to understand His message of “I am the Resurrection and the Life” (Jn. 11:23-27, 33, 38).
Thus, we can rest assured that Job’s “grief-groanings” were heard by the Lord God Sabaoth (“The Lord of Hosts”)—for His ear is always attentive to the cries of those who trust Him (Ps. 40:1-3).
Even so, Job still expressed his grief in the usual way in his day-and-age by “tearing his robe, shaving his head, falling down on the ground and throwing ashes over his head into the air” (cf. 2:8). It’s impossible to hide such intense grief; however, in the midst of it we should not be “as those who have no hope” (I Thess. 4:13-18). Instead, like Job, we should conclude “I came into this world with nothing and it’s certain I’m going to leave the same way. There’ll be no U-Haul behind my hearse—for I’ll leave everything behind.
“But, in the midst of it all I will still say ‘Blessed be the Name of the Lord.’ God forbid that I should ever consider anything in this life—my possessions, my family, etc.—as ‘mine’. . .for they are all on loan to me. . .and, therefore, I should hold onto them lightly.”
Oh, dear Pilgrim, are you going through a particularly difficult time right now? Are you finding it difficult to say “Blessed be the Name of the Lord?” Or, are you feeling less than “blessed” when others “revile you and persecute you and say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake” (Mt. 5:11)?
If so, stop right now and will yourself to say (and mean it), “Blessed be the Name of the Lord.” Then, do it again. And, soon you’ll find that you can “rejoice and leap for joy—for great is your reward in Heaven” (Lk. 6:23).
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