A Story for All Time

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, lived a man who had it all. He had all the money he could possibly want. He also enjoyed the happiness of having a large family that he cared for deeply. He prayed for his children every day. No doubt he was well respected in the community because of his position and he enjoyed good health. Yes, he had everything people crave even today.

But one day, tragedy struck. A messenger came to tell him that his children had been killed-all of them. While that messenger was speaking, another came to tell him his property had been destroyed. Then he got very sick and his health was in absolute misery. And to make matters even worse, his own wife turned on him and he ended up in the city dump. He was a shell of the man he once was. While most people may experience one tragedy at a time, few lose everything in life.

But there were at least three friends that cared enough to visit and for a time they had nothing but sympathy for their suffering comrade. But even they couldn't refrain from attacking him with accusations of some great wrong that he was being punished for. Of course this suffering man had to defend himself and wanted to even meet with God to let Him know that enough was enough. Everyone probably wishes they could do that.

But God answered first and wanted to know if this man had helped Him create the world. Ouch! A question like that brings us back to earth and reality. While the suffering man struggled with understanding the many tragedies that had befallen him, he never lost sight of God and the Lord rewarded him with deliverance from his trials. God has a way of doing that when we keep our patience and trust in Him. Read about it in the book of Job. "You have heard of the patience of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how that the Lord is merciful" (James 5:11.)