A Time of Job Testing

I have been hearing the Spirit say, "My people are entering a time of Job testing." Indeed, I see this being manifested in the lives of many righteous people who seek to keep God's commands and usher in His Kingdom. The testings are not the same for any two people - they appear to be "tailor-made" to test that to which we tightly grip, and do not want to relinquish. "Will you let go?" the Spirit asks. "Will you lay your Isaac on the altar by faith, and worship Me in the midst of your testing?"

When God asked Abraham to take his beloved son, Isaac, up the mountain and literally slay him as a sacrifice, we see the word "worship" in this scenario and we are stunned. What was Abraham's sacrifice? It was his willingness to let go of that which he cherished most. It was his righteous prioritizing, placing God above all else. It was his obedience! His great faith in the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob somehow convinced him that God would restore his son to him in the end, as he proclaimed, "The lad and I will go over there and worship and then WE will return to you!" (Genesis 22:5)

Job sat in the dirt, miserably scratching his body sores with shattered pottery pieces; and in the midst of his loss of wife, children, livestock, wealth, and property, he worshiped God and boldly prophesied, "I know that my Redeemer lives and that He shall stand upon the earth!" (Job 19:25)

The days ahead of us will require this kind of bold and sure faith. We must be focused on the glorious in-breaking of the Kingdom of God, instead of the demise of the world and its collapsing economies. The tests of obedience are coming into the lives of God's people, to see how we will respond. Will we praise Him in the midst of great loss? Can we trust Him when we don't understand His purpose? Will we obey when it means great personal sacrifice?

Several of my dearest friends are going through such tests even today. One couple has just lost their home and all that they hold dear. Their response has been resounding worship, saying to God, "We do not understand, but we trust You. Now that we are free of material things, show us how we can serve You." Another dear friend is facing a "death sentence" from melanoma. Her doctors told her she has three to four months to live. Her response? "I believe I am going to be one of God's great miracles. But whether I live or whether I die I want to bring Him great glory in the process!"

To these and many others of you who are going through great tests and trials, I offer encouragement. God restored to Job all that he lost, and more. The obedience brought the blessing. The refusal to follow his wife's suggestion when she told him, "Curse God and die," brought renewed hope, life, and prosperity. Recalling my own great tests of losing husband, ministry, and home, and then going to Jerusalem to experience a total "flesh-death," I can joyfully say, "After death there is always a resurrection for those who follow Messiah Yeshua!"

In the midst of our testing, may we be able to testify as Job did: "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold. My feet have closely followed His steps; I have kept to His way without turning aside. I have not departed from the commands of His lips. I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my daily bread." Job 23:10-12