Job was a great man. God went as far as to say that he was “perfect.” That’s some high praise coming from the Almighty. Job also experienced great tragedy in his life that led him to question God’s care for him and others. The pain he experienced led to many questionings and mental, physical, and emotional unrest.
    Job and his friends spent much time wrestling with God’s actions and arguing how life was fair or unfair. They talked endlessly about God, rewards, and punishment and came to no conclusions.
Throughout this period of time Job was just left with questions, confusion, and frustration. There was no rest for him and his weary soul, despite his and his friends’ best efforts to find the answers to why he was suffering from such a lot in life.
    We too have struggles. This is not to say that most of us suffer to Job’s extent, but we all have hardships. Maybe this week you’ve been struggling through something (is there ever a week where we don’t?). Has it made it hard to trust God and His good plans for your life? I’ll admit that far too often I have a tendency to struggle to believe that God has a plan for any number of hard things in life.
    Much like Job, we all have hard times throughout our lives, and much like Job we all have times when we start to wonder whether or not God really has a good plan for us. But do you remember the rest of the story? I’ll spoil the end for you: God shows up.
    After the questions, struggles, anger, and frustrations that Job experienced, and after his friends didn’t understand him or what he was suffering from—after all these things, God came into the picture. Yet when God arrived, He didn’t immediately give all the answers to Job’s questions. Job still didn’t understand it all, but there was one thing that was very clear to him: God is big enough to know what He is doing. And so Job’s questions stopped, and he was awestruck by God.
    That’s something I hope we can all be this Sabbath. As the sun sets and we rest, I recommend consciously giving your worries, struggles, questions, and hurts to the Lord—at least for the day—and just rest in in His amazing presence.
    Remember this: God is big enough to take care of you, your problems, and the world’s problems while you rest on this day. Bring your troubles to Him, as Peter says: “Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you.” 1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV
    Remember He is mighty, and He cares for you.
    I trust that on this day we will all feel God’s care in a fresh way.