Making Choices Under Pressure: Part 2 — A ‘Time With God’ Devotion

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Transcript

Good morning. We’re talking this week about making choices under pressure. Are you facing some pressure in your life right now that’s really stressing you out, causing distress to you as you think about it?

I know about that. Probably every person in the world knows what it’s like to feel that stress and pressure.

That sense of inadequacy and uncertainty about the future or even the pain of things that are already happening that are causing great

Discomfort and pain, whether physical or emotional in our lives.

We’re looking at the book of Job and trying to learn from him as he faced enormous stresses in his life about this idea of making choices under pressure that are the right choices. We saw last week that Satan came to God and said, “Oh, Job only serves you because you make everything good for him. Your blessing is life. But if you were to take those things away, then he’d curse you”.

And God said, “OK, Satan. Go to it. You can’t touch Job, but touch all of his things if you want.”

Here’s what happened.

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Starting in Job chapter 1 verse 13:

Now it happened on the day when Job’s sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house that a messenger came to Job and said the oxen were ploughing and the donkeys feeding beside them, and the Sabians attacked and took them. They also slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

While he was still speaking, another also came and said, the fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

While he was still speaking, another also came and said the Chaldeans formed three bands and made a raid on the camels and took them and slew the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.

And while he was still speaking, another also came and said, “Your sons and your daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house. And behold, a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house. And it fell on the young people. And they died and I alone have escaped to tell you.”

Then Job arose. And tore his robe. That was a sign of incredible distress and grief.

He tore his robe and shaved his head. And he fell to the ground and worshipped and he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb and naked I will return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Through all this Job did not sin. Nor did he blame God.

Well, here we have this pile of bad bad awful circumstances one after another just mounting up. You can imagine the impact of each one on Job all that he had carefully built up in his business.

Crumbling around him and then his own kids.

Dying in that house.

What could Job do? He worshipped God. It seems almost incomprehensible, doesn’t it? If he’d believed in luck and not in God, he would have responded really differently.

Even those who believe in God can question and crack under the pressure.

In the midst of tragedy we still have a choice.

To react just as a human being or to react as a spiritual being who has a God that he trusts.

I’m John North.

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