What If You Lost Everything?

One day, when the angels of God came to present themselves before the LORD,
Satan also came among them.
And the LORD said to Satan, "Whence do you come?"
Then Satan answered the LORD and said,
"From roaming the earth and patrolling it." 
And the LORD said to Satan, "Have you noticed my servant Job,
and that there is no one on earth like him,
blameless and upright, fearing God and avoiding evil?"
But Satan answered the LORD and said,
"Is it for nothing that Job is God-fearing?
Have you not surrounded him and his family
and all that he has with your protection?
You have blessed the work of his hands,
and his livestock are spread over the land.
But now put forth your hand and touch anything that he has,
and surely he will blaspheme you to your face."
And the LORD said to Satan,
"Behold, all that he has is in your power;
only do not lay a hand upon his person."
So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

And so one day, while his sons and his daughters
were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
a messenger came to Job and said,
"The oxen were plowing and the asses grazing beside them,
and the Sabeans carried them off in a raid.
They put the herdsmen to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Lightning has fallen from heaven
and struck the sheep and their shepherds and consumed them;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another messenger came and said,
"The Chaldeans formed three columns,
seized the camels, carried them off,
and put those tending them to the sword,
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
While he was yet speaking, another came and said,
"Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine
in the house of their eldest brother,
when suddenly a great wind came across the desert
and smote the four corners of the house.
It fell upon the young people and they are dead;
and I alone have escaped to tell you."
Then Job began to tear his cloak and cut off his hair.
He cast himself prostrate upon the ground, and said,

"Naked I came forth from my mother's womb,
and naked shall I go back again.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
blessed be the name of the LORD!"

In all this Job did not sin,
nor did he say anything disrespectful of God.


As we see from the reading, God recognizes Job as a righteous man.  He also happens to be quite a wealthy man. So, it is possible for a person to be wealthy and to be just.   In our story Satan is shown to be speaking with God and points out that it is very easy for Job to be just, he has everything that he needs and if You change his situation just a little he will curse God.  Now, Job is presented with a day that we can literally call, "A day from hell."  Little things did not go wrong, everything went wrong.  He woke up in the morning happy and praising God and by afternoon he had lost everything.  Job takes things with a grain of salt.  He knows that he can replace the things that were stolen but then he is told the worst thing of all, his children were all killed.  This he does not take will, he rips his garments and casts himself on the ground but instead of blaspheming against God he simply acknowledges that everything he had came from God and that God could take it away if He willed.  Instead of using the word damn he says, "Naked I came from my mother's womb and naked shall I go back again.  The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."  The writer then points out that in all of this Job did not sin nor did he say anything bad about God.  If you lost everything, how would you complete this sentence?  "God..."

How would you react if all of these sorts of things happened to you?  How do you react when things do not want to go your way? How do you behave when you are sick or in pain?  Do you lash out or do you use what has happened to you for good and offer the suffering up for your sins or for the Poor Souls in purgatory.  Suffering is a fact of life. Some of us get more than others. Some of us are in a position from time to time to alleviate the suffering of others.  Do we help where we can, using the resources at our command?   Which set of your eyes has the better vision?  Do your eyes see more clearly the things that affect you or those that affect others?  

I don't want to spoil the story of Job but even more happens to our hero, Job.  To top it off, three "friends" come to console him in the situation he finds himself in and they do their best to convince him that what has happened was a punishment for some sin he had committed.  With friends like these, who needs enemies?   Read the Book of Job, the first time as you would read a novel and later read it and meditate on what it says.  Job's story in a way is the story of every man or woman.  Good comes into our lives and we enjoy it and then something bad happens.  How we react to both situations will tell us a lot about our love for God and the state of our soul.  Blessed be the name of the Lord!