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The story of Job has inspired generation after generation.  The fact that he lost everything and everyone dear to him and didn’t lose his mind is a miracle in itself!

The same underlined message is preached every time I hear of Job: Trust God even when you lose it all and He will give you double for your trouble!

That’s all good and well. I’m sure in some way or another, we’ve all experienced God’s blessings after trusting Him through some valleys.  However, this week I want to highlight a different aspect of this story.

Job’s life brought us different lessons:

You don’t have to be a bad person to experience hard times.

We should always trust God, no matter how things look or feel.

Man will ALWAYS fail us, but God is faithful and ever present.

We may mess up and even fail others, but God is always in control and ready to forgive us when we repent.

Those are great lessons, but there was a theme to Job’s story that God took the time to show me during my own time of feeling like things were slipping through my fingers.  No matter what Job went through, no matter who walked away, God remained faithful as Jehovah Shalom, God his peace.

The Bible says in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”  This means the peace we get from God isn’t the same as the peace we think we can get from this world. Peace from the world is temporary. It changes more than a person changes underwear, or a child changes their mind on what they want to eat.

Now the peace of God, it’s eternal, never failing, always readily available for all who will accept it.  God is a God of peace. The mission of Christ was to bring peace to a messed up and flawed world and apart from Him, there is no true peace.

Job caught on to that. Even though he saw everything and everyone around him going away, Job chose:

To acknowledge God in the midst of his suffering  Job 1:21

To remember the words of the Lord Job 5: 17-18

Hold fast to his integrity Job 7:3-5

Job chose praising over worry,

Integrity over doubt,

Godly wisdom over bad counsel,

Faith in God over what he could see in the natural,

Job chose the peace of Jehovah Shalom over everything and everyone.

Was he crowned prom king or voted most popular? No. People walked away just as they do now when we chose to stand up for Christ even when we look like we’ve lost it all…including our minds.

But where did that get Job? Let’s take a look:

“And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.

Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys. He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.

After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.”                        Job 42:10-16

Because Job chose peace throughout his suffering he was blessed more than he could have ever imagined.  God showed Himself strong as Jehovah Shalom throughout the process and Job was able to pull strength, integrity, and courage from that peace.

Because God is Jehovah Shalom, we have strength.

Because He is Jehovah Shalom, we can keep our integrity in the midst of a compromising world.

Because He is Jehovah Shalom, we can boldly stand for what we believe in.

Because He is Jehovah Shalom, OUR Peace, We are at Peace no matter what comes our way.

My prayer for us this week is that we will embrace God as Jehovah Shalom, our Peace. Not a temporary, wavering peace that comes and goes as the wind blows; But an eternal, everlasting, ever present, ever sustaining peace that comforts us when we feel beat up, holds us up when we’re on the brink of falling, reminds us of the hope we have in Christ Jesus, and keeps us unmovable and courageous when the storms of life try to knock us over.

I pray that we will be intentional about keeping our minds focused on God so that He will continue to keep us in perfect peace. I pray that when we have our moments of anger, frustration and hurt, we will go to God for our counsel so He can turn around and fill us with His never ending peace that passes all understanding. I pray that we choose to reject doubt, confusion, drama, gossip, opinions of others, and anything else that would try to steal our peace.  That we make peace a priority in our lives so we can in turn, share that peace with others who need it.

God is the Prince of Peace and we are His children. Just as our children share our characteristics and mannerisms, we should walk in the very same characteristics of God, our Father.

Choose to take on Peace today. Choose to allow Jehovah Shalom to fill you with peace to the overflow and let it spill out in your home, job, school, and anywhere else you go.

Until next week,

Be Blessed!

LadyWhipp