His Encouragement #135

Welcome to His Encouragement Thursday! I don’t know about you, but Thursdays are my struggle day of the week. By Thursday, I have already been working hard at school and at home, and I just wish it would hurry up and be Friday already. LOL! I definitely need a little extra Jesus time on Thursdays.

Trisha, my blogger friend at Joy of Reading, and I decided on calling this post “His Encouragement” because our real source of peace, strength, and security can only come from Jesus Christ. He and He alone is our constant! We pray and hope that these Thursday posts become a real encouragement to you and help you end your week strong in God’s love and purpose for you. God bless!

Today’s Thursday Encouragement:

My times are in Your hand; rescue me from the hand of my enemies and from my persecutors!
Psalm 31:15 (ESV)

I started another year-long Bible study a week ago and I’m enjoying it. It’s a chronological study so I’m currently in Job. Job has been an interesting, highly cathartic read for me this time around. There is a lot that Job says, that he questions, that has me in tears. But the one thought that has been fixed in my brain this week is when Job says, “So He will do to me whatever He has planned. He controls my destiny” (Job 23:14 NLT). It’s a compelling thought.

If you’ve read any of my Thursday Encouragement posts then you know I often say, “God is the Boss!” And, it’s true, but think about what that really means — God controls everything. God controls when we are born and when we die. He controls what we look like. He controls the suffering that enters our life. He controls our futures. God controls everything.

In Job, all Job wants is the answer to “WHY?” Why, God, have you allowed all this bad to happen to me? Haven’t I been a good guy? Haven’t I followed ALL of Your Words and commands? How can You be OK with the death of ALL of my children? How can You condone the stealing of everything I have? How are You OK that my body has become a cesspool of pus and pain?

It’s real easy for someone to read Job and think he’s mad at God. There’s a good chance people could read this book and think God is a big meanie in the sky. BUT, Job never loses sight of the fact that God is the BOSS. Job has such a real relationship with God that he knows there must be a purpose behind everything — he just can’t figure it out. That’s why he wants his time in God’s courts. Job knows with confidence that God has a purpose. He just doesn’t know what that purpose is.

Job is an example of GREAT faith.

Reading Job has reminded me of when David says, “My times are in Your hand” (Psalm 31:15a). No matter what happened in David’s life, no matter what God brought, David knew he was going to be OK because his times were held in God’s hand. This is the same kind of faith that Job has. No matter what happens to him, Job knows that God is always the BOSS and that his life is controlled by the One who holds him in His hand.

Knowing that God’s got you in His hand no matter what happens makes going through things a whole lot easier! I know that God is the Boss. I know He has total control over everything happening on this earth. I know that no matter what happens to me or my family, we’ll be OK because our times are in His most capable hand. Today, dear reader, if you are struggling, just remember that God’s got you and He will see you through no matter what!