Job 1:20
“Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,”
Maybe one of the reasons God thought so highly of Job is because of his response to tragedy. Before the tragedy hit Job, God knew how he would respond. It was not a guess on God’s behalf of how Job would respond. When Satan came in from stalking God’s people throughout the Earth, God asked him if he considered Job, a man “that feared God, and eschewed evil.” Satan told God the only reason he was so good was because he had not faced tragedy. So, God gave him permission to touch his substance.
In one day Job lost about everything. I don’t know the timeline, but the servants of Job were plowing in the field when the Sabeans came and took the oxen and servants away. When the one servant who escaped came to tell Job what happened, another servant came in and told him that fire fell from Heaven and consumed his sheep. That servant had barely finished talking when another servant came in to tell him that the Chaldeans stole all of his camels. That servant barely finished talking when another servant came and told him that all of his children were killed in a freak storm.
As a man, I can see Job’s mind working as to how he would recover everything until he heard that his children were killed. We are not talking about one or two children dying in one day, but we are talking about ten children dying at the same time. There is no doubt that the hearts of he and his wife were devastated. They didn’t get to give one last kiss. They didn’t get to have one last hug. All they could do was go to the house where their children were and pull out their dead bodies. Oh the heartache that gripped the hearts of these parents.
Yet, how did Job respond when this tragedy struck his family? His first response was to fall on his face and worship God. Get this, he didn’t fall on his face and gripe to God, but he fell on his face and gave reverence to God. As he worshipped God he said, “Naked came I out of my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Wow, what a response! His response was to give homage to the One Who gave him life and thank Him for giving the short amount of time he had with his children.
What is your response when tragedy strikes you? Job’s response was not to look at what he had lost, but it was to look at what God had given him. This is what keeps a person from being depressed and suicidal. This is what keeps a person from going into their cocoon and hurting the rest of the relationships around them. When tragedy hits you must not look at what you have lost, instead you must look at what God gave you for the amount of time you had it.
Furthermore, the first person Job went to was God. His first response was to fall down and worship God. It was not to go to a spiritual friend and look for sympathy. His response was to go to the God Who is the source of all comfort and worship Him. That is the reason Job made it through such a tragic time.
Friend, if you will make your response to tragedy the same as Job’s, then you will find that you can make it through any tragedy. Everyone is going to face some sort of tragedy in their life, and the first response should always be to fall down and worship God. Don’t complain, but thank God for what He has given you and let His Holy Spirit comfort you through your tragedy. This is the only way to face tragedy and to keep tragedy from destroying you.