There is a story about a man named Job. Job was a righteous man, with exceeding wealth and prosperity. One day, Job learns that his all of his oxen had been stolen, all of his farmhands had been killed, all of his sheep and shepherds were burned up in a fire, all of his camels have been stolen, all of his servants have been killed, and all of his sons and daughters were killed. Job had lost all of his earthly possessions. Despite all of this extreme hardship, Job responds by saying:
“The LORD gave me what I had, and the LORD has taken it away. Praise the name of the LORD!”*
Even though Job lost everything he had, he still was able to praise God. Job’s story is the perfect illustration of how we, as high school Christians, should handle difficult times. Although the difficult times may not compare to those of Job, we all are faced with adversity at some point. It is then, in the hardest times, when we must praise our LORD.
When in high school, life can (sometimes) seem easy and fun. Like when you just got an “A” on that Biology test or got in the breadstick line earlier than usual or finally got that girl to talk to you. It’s easy to praise God when he’s being good to us. But what about if you hit the curb in Driver’s Ed and got a “C” or got beat in the final seconds of the district soccer game or fell down the stairs and broke your leg? It’s not as easy to praise God when things are tough and God is being “bad” to us. However, the fact is this: God is always good. Which is why we should praise God despite the weather.
*Job 1:20 (NLT)
