Sept 8

I work in a hospital as a nurse- we regularly practice skills we need in crisis. But do we ever think to do this in real life? We live in a crazy and unpredictable world and although God is always in control and He does work all things together for good- things can and will go wrong in your life. Maybe 'wrong' is not even the right word, but we will have crisis in your life.

One thing that I have learned to do is to try to 'spiritually prepare' for crisis. One of the foundations of this in Job 1:20. Occasionally I mentally 'reherse' No matter what tragedy comes _______________(fill in the blank with what you fear most), I WILL worship God. Job tore his robe and shaved his head (the traditional sign of grieving and mourning in that culture) AND fell on the ground in worship. It's good to have that settled ahead of time, because we certainly do not think clearly in a crisis.

A few of the lessons Job has also taught me in this first three chapters-

• He acknowleges that EVERYTHING he has was given to him by God
• He praises God, even in the pain. Let the NAME of the LORD be PRAISED
• He did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing
• He did not let the opinions of his spouse or friends change his reaction. Although he was totally alone in his beliefs, he never wavered
• He did grieve and didn't try to just 'slap a happy face it' but he always keeps God and His sovereingty uppermost in his thoughts.

I am certain that when faced with crisis that I will not go through it as well as I would hope. But being a little prepared can't hurt. Everyone will have to face things that they would rather not deal with. Having a game plan in mind can help. We can learn from Job's stratagies.

One thing Job never asked is "Why me". We often hear people ask that and I've asked that question a lot myself. But, I've learned to see that at the root of that question is a prideful heart. "I deserve better! I'm special. Look at so-n-so, I am a lot better than them, and nothing bad ever seems to happen to them".  We need to turn the focus from us to God. Blessed be HIS name. And the counter intuitive thing that happpens is, the more we magnify Him, the better we feel. It's because it is what we were created to do.

As we read through Job, I think that's one of the greatest lessons we can learn from him- humility. It's sadly lacking in our society. And, I'll be honest, it's sadly lacking in me. I thought I was making some progress until a 'button pusher' (we all have them) pushed one too many buttons and out of me spewed ugliness that I didn't know was in there.

 I was raised by hard working, humble parents who were wise enough not to let me even remotely imagine that I was the center of the universe. I can't imagine the next generation coming up who is being raised to think it IS all about them and their happiness. Lord help us. We will need it.