“Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped. He said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing.” – Job 1:20-22
Last week, as I walked through my work corridor, I started wondering about all the people who died from the Covid 19. At the same time, I thought that no one in my family or my husband’s family had died from it. I thought of the words “Thank you, God,” and I felt like a hypocrite, like something preventing me from saying these words. I felt uneasiness because the pandemic has not left that sorrow that many carry for losing a loved one. Many have lost a father, mother, husband, wife, child, or another close relative. If I said those words, I felt like saying that God blesses me more than others, or maybe if my gratefulness to God was only when good things happen to me.
When I mediate the wisdom that comes from the book of Job, clarity comes to my mind. I read it over and over. I learn that our gratitude towards God is not on the ability to give thanks to God because relatively good things or bad things happen to us. But in the power of knowing that we have come to this world with nothing. Let that sink, nothing. Therefore, we can leave with nothing because even our life belongs to God. When good things happen to us, we count them and express them as a blessing. However, Job also felt blessed when things were terrible for him. The Bible teaches us that he had an attitude of gratitude towards God for everything God had given to him. The good and the bad.
Now I feel that I can say “Thank you, God” from a different place. Not from that place that says “because it didn’t happen to me.” Instead, I can say “Thank you, God, for all the things you have given me, even for those I felt you had taken away. Thank you because everything is Yours. Nothing belongs to me, and I am nothing without you, and I have nothing outside of You.”
Father God, who gives everything, and everything belongs to you; we want to thank you today for all things even when we do not fully understand them. Thank you for these times that have been difficult and uncertain for everyone. Even when we cannot see it clearly, give us that attitude of gratitude and adoration of Job’s heart. Renew our life to be meaningful and courageous to be better disciples of Christ, your son. In your name, we pray. Amen.