“But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” (Job 2:10)
Most people know how to smile when the sun is shining. Far fewer know how to bless the Lord at all times. No one would say that Job was a “happy camper” when multiple tragedies struck him. The aftermath of being socked with such monumental loss was a season of profound heaviness. There was no wishing his sorrow away. Each day he awoke to the same bleak reality. The future he had hoped for was obliterated.
While few of us will ever experience the depth of Job’s loss, none of us are exempt from dark days, where the taking away of what we hold dear would crush us. In such seasons of heaviness, we cannot control feelings of sorrow. They stalk and find us even when we would be done with them. What can we do in such a day to keep ourselves from being swallowed up in darkness and despair? Turn to God like we never have before.
It is a simple fact that in a day of bright morning sunshine, we are less inclined to cling to God. The enemy of our soul can use a dark day to drive us from God. We can curse Him and die. But it can also drive us to God to find refuge under the shadow of His wings. While He is not the author of our pain, He is the redeemer of it. In the shelter of His arms there is a deep bonding that takes place between our soul and His. “Deep calleth unto deep at the noise of thy waterspouts: all thy waves and thy billows are gone over me.” (Psalm 42:7) Without the waves and billows that threatened to drown him, Job would never have encountered God as he did.
Look out your window. The weather is not the real determiner of your health. Where your spirit heads on any given day decides whether you live or die. Those who seek God at all times not only survive, but rebound from all trouble, and come back stronger than ever. Don’t fear a dark day, if the Lord is the light of your life. “… Cleave unto him: for he is thy life” (Deut. 30:20).