Naked I Came and Naked I Shall Return

Naked I came from my mother's womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away
Blessed be the name of the Lord -Job 1:21

What a man Job was to be able to say that in the midst of a huge personal struggle, when he watched everything disappear before his eyes. What made him different? What made him special? What made him change his tune later?

In the last couple weeks, I've begun to really understand this passage. I've begun to understand the weight of the personal struggles, and what it really means to have everything stripped away. I've stared at this scripture many times, but I could not speak it. The despair in my heart has been intense.

As I studied Job, I realized that later in the book he seems to have the wrong idea of God's character and his tune and even his mood, his strength, seems far less than what it was. Still he chooses to praise, but only half of his praise and his mood is one of despair. Yes, the despair is real and warranted considering the situation, but how could he, and how can I, move from that position and into one of peace and joy that the scriptures command us to exist in?

With the help of a friend this week, I was able to refocus my attention, off of self and onto the Lord. He kindly pointed me towards a scripture that said it all too well;

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war
according to the flesh, for the weapons of our
warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely
powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We
are destroying speculations and every lofty
thing raised up against the knowledge of God,
and we are taking every thought captive to the
obedience of Christ - 2 Corin 10:3-5

Take every thought captive, what does that mean? Does it mean I don't acknowledge my pain? Of course not! It means that I cry out with all of my being, express my struggles, then move into praise. It means I take captive my thoughts of the temporal and focus them again on the eternal. The best way to battle the physical and emotional trials is to praise the maker, the one who created everything.

Paul asks the Corinthians "What do you have that you did not receive?" That is a question that I needed to ask myself. Is any part of what I have truly mine? No, it is all His. Am I deserving of any part of it, in hope I would say yes, but in truth, I would have to say no. In truth, I deserve death, (For the wages of sin is death... Romans 6:23) No part of what I have is mine.

Does God change when things get hard? Is He suddenly cruel? Does He suddenly favour the wicked? No! Not my God! This was Job's mistake! He forgot, if he had ever known, God's character. He didn't take those thoughts captive.

In Job's defence though, he didn't have the tools that we have today. He didn't have the scriptures or the Holy Spirit to be a guide to him. Praise God that we do! When in doubt, when it feels like all has been stripped away, turn back to the Word of God. Pray and ask the Holy Spirit to be your guide.

God has not forgotten me. God will not forsake us! Praise God that He is faithful!


I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. - Phil 4:13