TRUST IN GOD (PART 5)
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:" - Job 13:15 (KJV)
There must be something about God which Job knew or understood that made him take the position of trusting God, no matter what! We all know the story of Job. He fared well in life and besides, he was a man to be envied; until satanic onslaughts hurled at him changed his status and made him horrible and never to be desired.
In one day, he lost all his ozens, asses and the servants that tended to them to the Sabeans (Job 1:14-15). On the same day, news came to him that the fire of God that fell from heaven had burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them. (Job 1:16). While he was ruminating on this, news came further that he had lost his camels and his servants to the Chaldeans (Job 1:17). As the messenger was yet speaking, another came telling him that he had lost his children to a great wind from the wilderness that struck the building in which they were eating and drinking wine (Job 1:18-19). All of these happened to this servant of God in one day, aside the personal attack on his body by way of sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown (Job 2:7). Shall we, in addition, talk of his wife's abandonment coupled with the taunts from his friends and neighbors?
Yet, in all of these, the man Job would say, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him:" (Job 13:15). What was it about God that Job knew that made him trust God so monstrously and stupendously? What was it that Job knew of God that most of us today are ignorant of? I discovered that Job had by experience learned God's nature in relation to His promises.
It has been observed that every promise of God is built upon four pillars: God’s justice and holiness, which will not suffer Him to deceive; His grace or goodness, which will not suffer Him to forget; His truth, which will not suffer Him to change, His Might, which makes Him able to accomplish. In other words, God's Justice and Holiness, His Grace or Goodness, His Truth and His Might, being part of His adorable attributes, all have an untold and immense bearing on His willingness and ability to fulfill His promises, with the consequence that men do not shrink or waiver from trusting Him! Time will fail us to talk more and in detail about these attributes of God.
These attributes and many more are what Job was acquainted with that led to his unwavering trust in the Lord. In the same vein, Apostle Paul's knowledge of God helped him to hold fast to his trust and confidence in the Lord during moments of his trials and temptations:
"I ... suffer ... nevertheless I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day.", he said (2 Tim 1:12). Apostle Paul's sufferings didn't perturb him, so also was the fact that everyone deserted him in the moments of his trials in life (2Tim 1:13, 2 Tim 4:16). Hear his averment and affirmation on the situation:
"Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me;" (2 Tim 4:17)
Will you trust God in seasons of darkness and trouble when your way is shut up with thorns, when nothing seems to be working, when men mock and taunt you for the sake of your faith in the Lord, when it seems that all hope is lost, when you are overwhelmed by moments of tears and trials, so much that men ask "where is your God"? Will you trust God at such moments?
The knowledge that God has a plan for your life; and that no contingencies can frustrate those plans because He's the Almighty God, the knowledge that He loves and cares about you and that He will do the unimaginable, the unthinkable to fulfill you, the knowledge that He's constantly at work for you ensuring that all things work together for your good; all these and many more should serve to persuade you to trust Him.
PRAYER:
Dearest Heavenly Father, no one is like You. Certainly, You are worthy of my unflinching trust.