The Lord Be Praised

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. Job 1:21

Everything Job owned was taken away from him, even his sons and daughters. And yet he was able to exclaim, “May the name of the Lord be praised!” It is hard to say whether Job fully understood what he was saying, but this word of praise shows how entirely submitted he was to God. In the end, this was enough for God. Satan was defeated at the very outset.

What can we learn from this? One thing for sure – the greater God’s plans are, the more surprising, the more incomprehensible are the things that take place. If Job teaches us anything, he shows how important it is to have a childlike faith that when God hits hard he always has something tremendous and good in mind. Let us believe this, whether we understand it or not.

Dear friend, no matter what confronts you, the best thing is always to do the same as Job and praise God. Never think that God makes mistakes, or that he can’t work in a certain way, or that he doesn’t honor those who follow him faithfully. Beware! Whenever you begin to accuse God, you have already strayed from the path. You must be very careful not to fall any lower, lest you abandon God altogether. Just think how much we please Satan whenever we resent and resist God’s will. Think how ashamed God himself must be because of us.

Don’t forget that our faithfulness is always tested. We pass the test only if we give God the honor in all things and turn to him reverently and silently no matter what he does. When we do this, Satan is defeated and we are assured of victory.

Johann Christoph Blumhardt