In reading the book of Job, I am struck as I am sure most of you are, with his unwavering faith in the midst of some pretty harsh circumstances. He was a very wealthy man who lost it all. His loss was no fault of his own. Satan was trying to show Job would be unfaithful if he did not have all the blessings in his life. As everything was stripped away, he remained faithful and knew that God would redeem him. ²⁵ But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last. ²⁶ Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh. ²⁷ I will see Him myself; my eyes will look at ⌊Him⌋, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me. We all pray that we would have the same faith in times as tough as those Job was experiencing.

But what about this thought? Are we blessed out of faithfulness to God? Most of us consider ourselves blessed beyond what we deserve. All of us are considered blessed by those we minister to in Burkina Faso. Often time in our lives blessing leads to complacency. Think about it. Do you pray with a sense of desperation more often when things are going great or when you are on the doorstep of some great tragedy? The emails and phone calls I receive requesting prayer are probably a 100:1 ratio of needs to praise and thanksgiving. Now I understand that many of you who offer thanks are not calling out of respect for time, so I am believing that the ratio is not as bad as it seems, but I know in my own life that my prayers are more intense when I have a pressing need than when things are rolling along smoothly.

For the Southside family of faith I am calling you to lift our church to the Lord even more in these days of blessing. Let’s remain faithful in this time of blessing! Let’s not be blessed out of faithfulness.

All of us need to be mindful of the potential to stray when things are going good. Let Job be a reminder to us. One of the reasons he remained faithful to God when things got really tough was because he was faithful to God when things were really good. Let’s follow the pattern of Job that God has given us in His Word.

Stay faithful!!