I can't put my arms!

As some of you know, I have had severe tinnitus for several years. Some days the ringing in my ears is more bothersome than others, but I always hear it... especially at night. The silence of the dark is like a loudspeaker in my head! I've tried many things, but the only thing that helps is to break the deafening silence.

My trick? I fall asleep listening to the Bible. My Bible app has made sleep possible again! Sometimes I pick a particular book or chapter and sometimes I just let it play from wherever it left off the night before.

Last week was a rough week - physically, emotionally, and spiritually. Like I've said before, the enemy knows our every weakness and he knows all the right buttons to push to make me snowball into a slumped mess on the floor. And ironically, when I was at my weakest, my Bible app chose the book of Job to help me relax. Seriously... JOB!

Even if you're not a Bible scholar, you're probably familiar with Job. Job was "blameless and upright, one who feared God." He also was rich. God had blessed him abundantly with livestock and a large family, which he prayed for daily. He was the "greatest of all the people in the east."

Then one day during a meeting between God and Satan, God asked Satan what he had been up to. Satan said he had been wandering about the earth (stirring up trouble, I presume). For some reason, that prompted God to brag about Job - how blameless and upright he was and how God knew that Job would never curse Him. And like the predictable villain that he is, Satan took that as a dare. Well, of course Job is wonderful as long as he has God's blessing and protection, but what if God removed the blessing and protection... would Job still be so faithful?

And so the battle began. God removed Job's protection and Satan threw everything he had at him. In the course of one day, Job lost his livestock, his children, and even his health. And even through all the pain, all the testing, all the mourning, Job never cursed God. In fact, his friends and his wife even encouraged him to curse God, but Job refused. And in the end, God restored everything Job once had, and even more abundantly.

Last week, I felt like the enemy was throwing everything he had at me. I didn't curse God, but I was questioning many things. And as I laid there listening to God's word, I questioned my strength. Could I be as faithful as Job? Could I ignore all the chaos and voices from the world and still look to the heavens for comfort? Could I turn to God, and ONLY God, for answers?

Nothing happens without God's knowledge. I despise the phrase "God will never give you more than you can handle." Not true! ...SO not true! In fact, that's EXACTLY what He does! If life was just peachy all the time, why would we ever turn to God for help? Our tough times are God giving us the opportunity to have a testimony. Each difficult season we go through is another chance to give God the glory, to praise Him for His goodness and mercy.

Besides the fact that my trials are a fraction of what Job endured, I also have the advantage of knowing the end of the story. I know how the book ends. And God always wins! From cover to cover, God always wins. Can you imagine what Job must have been thinking in the midst of all the testing? When will it end? How much more can there be? I have nothing left for you to take away!

Not only did Job not know how his story would end, he also didn't know that God had bragged on him to Satan. God knew, and always knows, our heart. From our first breath to our last, God knows our heart. He loves us beyond our imagination, even if it doesn't always feel like it. And the book of Job is the perfect reminder that God is also our biggest defender. And He is eager to say, "Trust Me... I got your back."

So when life gets messy and it feels like the enemy is in your face day after day, try to remember Job. Take a moment to remember the end of the book and smile. The bully loses. God always wins! God always chooses us in the dare. "Go on... I dare you. I triple dog dare ya!" That's how much faith God has in you.

Job 1:21

“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”