SURRENDERING EVERYTHING TO GOD

Everything that Job had lost so far was all external for him. He lost his children (seven sons and three daughters) and his financial security, which was his livestock: 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 teams of oxen, and 500 female donkeys. It is easy to read his horrible predicament, but it is very difficult to understand and painful to go through it. For example, a father lost his wife and his children during the Guadalupe River flood in Central Texas on July 4, 2025. He lost his entire family. It is very difficult to imagine the pain that he went through. However, Job's suffering did not end with the loss of his children and financial security; he also developed painful boils all over his body. He began to scrape his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes for grieving. When his wife saw Job's physical suffering and the lost of her children, she could no longer handle the pain, and she told Job to curse God and die with God's judgment. However, Job replied, "You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?" So in all of these sufferings, Job did not blame God or say anything wrong to God (Job 2:10).

The only thing that helped Job in going through his painful suffering was his faith in God. His strong understanding of his position before God is very critical in his faith in God. He believed that God blessed him with so many good things in his life. He received a wonderful family and a great opportunity to become the wealthiest man in his region. With all the blessings that he had received from God, Job also believed that God had the right to allow bad things to happen in his life. Since he submitted his life completely to God, he would accept whatever God allowed in his life. If we examine deeper into Job's life, we will see that his identity as a person is not coming from his family, wealth, and health, but his identity is in God alone. Job loved his family, and he would do anything for them, but his life belongs to God. When we surrender everything to God, accept whatever he allowed us to go through, and trust Him with our lives, we can stand in our faith in God in whatever situations we go through. 

Our faith in God shields us from bitterness and leads us to humility before Him, even when we do not understand why God is allowing us to go through pain and suffering. Our identity of who we are as a person is not coming from what God has blessed us with, such as family, job, and possessions, but our identity of who we are is in God. 

Questions for application: (Think through these questions carefully, meditate on them while answering them, and let the Spirit of God speak to you.) Why did Job not curse God or have bitterness against Him when he lost everything? Do I surrender everything to God and trust Him with my whole life? What lesson can I learn from today's devotion? 

Take a moment to write down all your worries today. Then, lift them to God in prayer, surrendering them to His will and trusting in His guidance.

Prayer:

Dear Father in Heaven, I humbly come before you acknowledging that you are my God and that you own everything that I have, including my life. Thank you for all the blessings that you have given me. Please help me to trust you in whatever circumstances that I am in. In your name, Jesus, I pray. Amen.