First Baptist Church, Pell City
When we truly know God we can trust Him. When Job lost everything the Bible says in Job 1:20–21, “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshipped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.”
It is interesting to note that Job grieved. He tore his robe, he shaved his head and he fell on the ground. Job grieved, but he worshipped God in the midst of his grief. Job knew God and he trusted God. Do we know God like that? Do we know Him with such intimacy that we can also trust His providence?
Most Christians are very familiar with Romans 8:28. We know the verse and can quote it to those who are suffering, but do we believe it? Do we truly know that all things work together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purposes?
When we know God in this way — when we can trust Him in the “shadow of death” — we will find what Paul called the “secret of contentment.”
In a little book titled “The Life of God in the Soul of Man,” Henry Scougal spoke of the joy of losing ourselves in the delight of God. In the midst of that discussion he said, “Chastisements, though they be not joyous but grievous, would hereby lose their sting, the rod as well as the staff would comfort him — he would snatch a kiss from the hand that was smiting him, and gather sweetness from the severity — nay, he would rejoice that God did not the will of such a worthless and foolish creature as himself, yet he did His own will, and accomplished His own designs, which are infinitely more holy and wise.”
When we truly know God, we can trust Him and find His goodness at the table set before us in the presence of our enemies. He is good when His oil runs from our head. He is good when our cup “runneth over,” and He is good when we experience His rod and His staff. When we know Him we can trust Him.
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