I was asked to write a quick devotional for the upcoming Prayer Station board meeting. Feel free to send a message with any thoughts or comments!
Good morning.
This turned out to be a timely devotional. I am currently reading through the Bible chronologically with Anita, and Job was the passage we just recently delved into. Given my situation this past year, I found some key principles that God has used to speak to me directly, and I’m sure you can apply them as well.
I know you all know the story of Job, how he was “blameless and upright,” a man who feared God and turned away from evil. He had everything anyone could want — family, wealth, respect and health. And all of it was stripped away, at the same time.
God has perfect timing, as always.
But even when Job stood in the ashes of his life, surrounded by confusion and pain, Job said, “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
That’s a powerful moment. Job didn’t deny his pain… he grieved deeply. But he still chose to trust that God was sovereign.
Job may not have received the answers to all of his questions. What he did get was a deeper understanding of who God is. In Job 42, he says, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you”.
Through suffering, Job’s faith wasn’t destroyed, it was refined. He came to know God in a more personal and powerful way. And that’s a lesson for us in ministry, and for us personally: when life feels out of control, God still holds everything together.
In ministry, we often meet people in the middle of their own “Job moments” — when they’ve lost someone or something, when they’re hurting, when they’re questioning why. And in those moments, we have the opportunity to show them that God still sees them, still loves them, and still has a plan.
That has been something personal for me. Going from Covid, to GBS, it is hard sometimes to not wonder… Why me? Asking God if I had done something wrong, as if it was a punishment or penalty. Have any of you ever gone through those moments in time?
Job’s story ends with restoration — not just in doubling his possessions, but a renewed relationship with God. That’s the same hope we can carry into every prayer, every outreach, every conversation.
In today’s world we have a huge opportunity before us. I cannot remember a time where it seemed that we were surrounded by evil as much as we are today:
We live in a world where being a man or woman is in question, where a church service is interrupted by a celebrity looking for a recordable moment, where the breakdown of law is celebrated, people actively try to hide gang members, murderers, child molesters and rapists, judges let these evil people back out on the street with no fines or jail time, and the list goes on and on.
I actually just read an article this week that exposed Denmark for forcing sterilization on the women of Greenland, without their knowledge, from 1966 thru 1992. I literally could not believe it. That means that for population control purposes, these people felt it was ok to make a decision like that? It is unreal.
We are also watching as the US is trying to take over Greenland (something I in my lifetime would never have even considered. I still watch incredulously at this), all of this in the midst of increasing tensions between Russia, China and Europe.
My daily prayers have certainly evolved over the past year. There seems to be more behind my prayers for safety and security for my family. Can you relate?
So today, as we plan, strategize, and dream for the year ahead, let’s remember that everything we do rests on that same foundation: God is sovereign.
He is good even when we don’t understand. He restores even when we’ve lost everything.
And He calls us to remain faithful, knowing that our Redeemer lives, just as Job declared.
I am resolving to be steadfast like Job. Let’s keep trusting that the same God who met Job in the ashes is the same God who will guide us in revival.
