daily bread

January 6
“…thou canst do everything” (Job 42:2).
Job was a God-fearing man, honest and upright. Yet God allowed great sufferings and sorrow in his life.
Suddenly, within a period of twenty-four hours all his children died, he lost all his cattle, all his sheep and
all his camels. Soon after this his body became covered with sores. His wife mocked him for his piety and
his friends began to accuse him falsely.
In the midst of all these terrible calamities the Lord became real to Job. At times, when his sufferings were
unbearable he expressed his inability to understand why God was allowing all this to take place. But when
God appeared to Job face to face, he discovered God’s threefold purpose for him. First, God wanted to
give Job much more than he had at that time. Although he was already the wealthiest man in the East,
God wanted to give him twice as much. Secondly, through his sufferings, God wanted to give him true
wisdom. His friends counted him a fool, and they thought they were all wiser than he. When the Almighty
appeared before them, it was Job alone who recognised Him and worshipped Him. Thus theLord proved
that Job alone was wise and all his friends were foolish. God made Job wiser than he had ever been before.
Thirdly, God wanted to teach Job how to pray. He had prayed till now, only for his own family (Job 1:5).
Now he learnt to pray for others, even for his friends who had been cursing him (ch. 42:8,10).
When God allows painful experiences in your life do not be discouraged. He wants to give you a greater
blessing this year, a double portion of blessing: He wants to impart to you more wisdom; and He wants to
draw you nearer to Himself and to teach you to pray.
In the end, when Job began to understand God’s mind, he was able to say, “Lord, thou canst do
everything”. The Lord will take us through many trials and thus reveal to us many hidden mysteries, so
that in the end we also will be able to trust Him fully and say, “Lord, thou canst do everything!”

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