Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Trust Him!

Job said that. Somehow, I don't know that I can honestly say that with Job and mean it. I can say it but I really have to ask God to give me the faith to mean it.

We are protective of our flesh. No man hates his own flesh. When it comes right down to dying, will I be able to trust God? Or, will I flake out, accuse God of failing me, hating me and not keeping His word? That's what the devil would like me to do.

I mean, skipping a meal because I'm a little short on cash is difficult enough. But, to get to the point where you are willing to starve to death? That's another kettle of fish entirely. Still, you know what? I really, really want to get to that point where I can say with my whole heart,

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

To have THAT much faith in God. Wow. But, Job did it. Can you imagine how much pain that poor man must have been in? And the torment. And the embarrassment. The humiliation must have been so difficult because he KNEW he loved and trusted God all his life and he just didn't deserve that kind of treatment! He knew it! But, he had to live as though all of God's goodness had left him destitute, not only broken in his flesh but in every other possible way. He lost his dear children. He lost everything.

What a man! What an example.

And he didn't get out on the other side very fast. It took a long, long, tediously long time for him to get delivered. It must have been very hard to even have a reason to live, to be able to believe there was going to be an end. Even his wife advised him to curse God and die. That's what she would have done in his position. Probably, that's what most people would have done.

But, not Job. He went through. He went all the way through to the end. He wasn't going to suffer half-way and then give up. No sir. He said, "Thou He slay me, YET will I trust him."

Turns out, God didn't slay him. Instead, the windows of heaven were opened and there was a very happy ending for Job. Maybe God had to humble because He wanted to be able to lavishly pour out all the blessings on him, but Job needed to be humble enough first. Wow. We have an awesome God.