Family
While he was still speaking, another messenger arrived with this news: “Your sons and daughters were feasting in their oldest brother’s home. Suddenly, a powerful wind swept in from the wilderness and hit the house on all sides. The house collapsed, and all your children are dead. I am the only one who escaped to tell you.” (Job 1:18-19)
Calamity upon Calamity. If you consider the magnitude of the attack on Job’s possession and the rapidity, then you will know that, something bigger was on the way. The next thing dear to a father is his family. It is actually, the father’s relationship with God first and that’s why Job built a righteous relationship with God and the bible attested to this fact. After the father’s relationship with God comes the support of his wife and family before his profession. For a Godly man, family is his second preference after God. When you’re attacked and you have the support of your family, you can survive and navigate your way through. It was the reason the enemy attacked Job’s family right after taking away his wealth. He was a smart devil.
Just as blazing fire runs through and destroys items in a matter of minutes especially if it is fueled, scarcely had job’s possessions been ransacked by the devil before a messenger delivered the news that, his children had died from a collapse. Did you hear the news of a renowned man of God who was on his way to preach at a conference when his two daughters and the driver got involved in a terrible accident that took all of their lives? How do you explain this? He was on a good course so why must his children be involved in such a fatal accident like arm robbers and die. Such deaths are meant for bad people someone can argue but why a man of God? No one can interpret. Men see from outside but God sees from inside. We must purpose to please God always and pray that, He will spare us from such devastating incidents that can ask questions of our faith. God can actually allow such fatal incidents to happen even though he could have prevented it. Don’t forget, God permitted the devil to attack Job. (Job 1:12). When men look at the incident, they could ask if God was in it. It looks devilish but God can allow the ways of the devil to bring calamity to his servants in a disgraceful but in the end, the restoration and glorification explains it all.
It was an organized torture from the devil and so God made sure that the restoration was double. Look at Job! He had two times of what was lost at the end- (John 42:10-12). So let the devil mock. Let people speak ill of the situation and give all manner of interpretations. It is important to keep shut when we cannot fathom the situation. It is easy to say Job’s children or he was sinning in secret and that what happened was to expose their evil acts. It could be it and it could be not. The most important thing is to repent. Whether it is us sinning, it shouldn’t be the business. Our attitude must be the business and if there is any repentance we must do. Job kept a good attitude. (Job 1:22). The incident touched Job’s soul and so we felt a complaining man somewhere in his conversations with his friends. If you push or accuse a righteous man who is unnecessarily troubled, he can react. And so he reacted but bible said he never sinned against God. God may not have seen his complains as sin maybe.
One of the things a Christian father must do is to develop the spirituality of his family. The enemy can strike a loving family and suddenly, the father’s relationship with the mother deteriorates, the man loses his business or job in a very sordid manner and the children begin to go wayward or lose their composure. It is important that while things are good, the father brings his family around him and lead them to God. It is their faith that will keep them in the midst of trouble. The hedge is kept once the family keeps their faith in the circumstance. Job’s foundation was good and that was what kept him throughout the incident. Even though the family hedge was broken through death, he held on to his faith and got his wife and children back as a sign that, the hedge was restored.
