Job felt that way. The Bible says he was "the richest man in the land." He must have had a lot of friends, right? Only three people came to comfort him after he had lost everything he had.
Do you have any go-to friends in your life? I have a few. They are a gift from God. True friends are those that come running when your life is crumbling around you. They are the ones who love you when they have nothing to gain by doing so.
I saw something on Facebook the other day, so you know it's true, right? Lol! It said, "Never refuse to do something for someone because God may be answering that person's prayer through you."
I never thought about it that way. We pray that God might use us in some way but then, when it actually happens, it's always a surprise to us. God uses anybody and everybody when He wants to accomplish His will in someone's life.
Our pastor gave a sermon yesterday using the example of Job and how Job loved God even when he had nothing.
"Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you [g]considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and [h]shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not [i]made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse[j] You to Your face!” - Job 1:8-11
Do we love God and others only in our abundance? Do we stop loving when something we love it taken away?
My mom once told me about how she prayed to God to save her father from cancer but then her father died anyway. She quit believing in God because He refused to save her dad. She didn't love God in her nothingness.
We need to exhibit a never-ending, unquenchable love for God and for others. That's the kind of love Jesus spoke about when He told us the greatest commandment. That's the kind of love He has for us.
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12:30-31
There are no qualifiers in that command. We are to love others ALWAYS! In time of abundance and in times of draught.
God answers prayers through us and our brothers and sisters in Christ. Don't be surprised when God answers someone's prayers through you!
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