When all else fails

If ever there was a man, who became confused and distraught about all that went wrong in his life, it was Job.

He lived righteous, he feared the Lord, and he harmed no one, yet, in a short span of time, his whole life went `pearshaped`.

Job 6:8 Oh that I might have my desire, and that God would grant the thing that I long for! 9 Even that it would please God to destroy me; that He would loose His hand and cut me off! 10 And it is yet my comfort; yea, I would rejoice in pain, though He did not spare me; for I have not hidden the words of the Holy One. 11 What is my strength, that I should hope? And what is my end, that I should be patient? 12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh bronze?

Who can identify Job’s situation with me?

You do what seems right, you live your life the best you know how, you attend church, you make and do all the right moves, and then `wham!`; it all goes horribly wrong.

What are we supposed to do, in times of trouble, when no words can comfort and when the best intentions of friends, have no effect?

Psa 121:1 A Song of the going up. My eyes are lifted up to the hills: O where will my help come from? 2 Your help comes from the Lord, who made heaven and earth. 3 May he not let your foot be moved: no need of sleep has he who keeps you. 4 See, the eyes of Israel's keeper will not be shut in sleep. 5 The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. 6 You will not be touched by the sun in the day, or by the moon at night. 7 The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your soul. 8 The Lord will keep watch over your going out and your coming in, from this time and for ever.

When all else fails, our help is from the Lord.

It is just a pity that most times, we run to God as a last resort, instead of making Him our first point of contact.

We try the Bank manager, the doctor, the mechanic, the whatever first, and if all our efforts fail, the light goes on and we think; “hey, let’s pray about this!”

Prayer should have been the first thing that comes to mind. Our first place of seeking advice, our first response and recourse.

The Psalmist states it so clearly: God is our keeper, He is our Refuge, He is our Shield and our Buckler.

Job 42:10 And the Lord made up to Job for all his losses, after he had made prayer for his friends: and all Job had before was increased by the Lord twice as much. 11 And all his brothers and sisters, and his friends of earlier days, came and took food with him in his house; and made clear their grief for him, and gave him comfort for all the evil which the Lord had sent on him; and they all gave him a bit of money and a gold ring. 12 And the Lord's blessing was greater on the end of Job's life than on its start: and so he came to have fourteen thousand sheep and goats, and six thousand camels, and two thousand oxen, and a thousand she-asses. 13 And he had seven sons and three daughters. 14 And he gave the first the name of Jemimah, the second Keziah, and the third Keren-happuch; 15 And there were no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job in all the earth: and their father gave them a heritage among their brothers. 16 And after this Job had a hundred and forty years of life, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. 17 And Job came to his end, old and full of days.