And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord .” – Job 1:21 ESV
#BlessedBeTheLord
If we only praise God when our circumstances live up to our wants, are we interested in being “Blessed”? That word in Hebrew is pronounced “barak”, which means “kneeling” – as an act of adoration, where we acknowledge our position as servant and God as master.
Or are we only interested in God if we can be the one in control, saying to Him, “Servant, go fetch this for me. Do this for me. Do that for me.”
Our God is Almighty God, not a pagan genie in a bottle, not a trapped demon to be manipulated by the binding Word of God, not a counterfeit (like mammon) that offers worldliness and pleasures of the flesh but has no power to save or redeem or deliver into freedom and a truly abundant life. No, we serve the Lord God Almighty, maker of heavens and earth, God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, and who came in the flesh as Jesus Christ to deliver you and I to a reconciled relationship with Him.
In fact, can’t we see that our God isn’t just the God of “prosperity, health, and favor”, but our God is the God of the poor, the needy, the afflicted, the lost, the humble. And He reaches them through you and I who are in that “Blessed” position of humble servant to our fellow man – so that we can truly say like Job, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return.Whether the Lord gives or takes away; blessed be the name of the Lord .”
Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? But you have dishonored the poor man. Are not the rich the ones who oppress you, and the ones who drag you into court? Are they not the ones who blaspheme the honorable name by which you were called? If you really fulfill the royal law according to the Scripture, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself,” you are doing well. – James 2:5-8 ESV
Harold J. Ballinger 