A Day from Job

The other day, I got up with a kink in my back.  I got up, stretched, exercised, stretched – it didn’t pop.  I began to scowl.  I started the coffee pot, (came through later and realized it had not started) and began to get ready to leave for the day.  None of my pants fit – scowl – scowl – whine – big scowl.  The puppy peed on the floor – bigger scowl. Then I had to go feed the goats (that I did NOT want), dripped milk on my shoes.  It turns out that didn’t matter due to the marsh that we call a back yard  - shoes are wet after 2 trips across because I forgot the older goats branch of leaves, and the shoes go squish squish squish…  Woops – forgot my phone – scowl.   I took my dear puppy along to visit my mom and her dog – he did not want to lay in his bed - scowl.  Road closed due to construction – scowl.  I had to get gas (a normal occurrence but on that day… scowl.)  Had to put puppy in kennel – he whined and howled – scowl.  By now, I am mad at everyone.  I am mad at my husband for buying goats.  I have creases forming permanent lines between my eyebrows.  And I can feel the ‘yellow monster’ (a term from the anger management lessons that I teach –hahaha) raging inside of me.  Satan has taken over my thoughts and I was NEGATIVE – being mad at the world, mad at myself, mad at the dog – dark dark dark – scowl.  I thought – ‘I am really having a ‘Job Day’, everything is going wrong!’  Then I heard the whisper of the Holy Spirit in my soul, barely loud enough to be heard over the scowls…”Job persevered.”…

Job persevered.  Everything, every horrifying thing, everything went wrong for Jonah.  Yet Job persevered.  Job held onto his faith.  Yes he was angry at times.  But he never renounces or spoke against God.  He persevered.  Now, I didn’t loose my faith or speak against God either.  But I had lost ‘myself’ to the mishaps of the morning.  I had let Satan take over my thinking, I had let my anger and frustration rage – I was a time bomb of negative energy (so so so so glad no family members were around).  I was NOT persevering, I was not acting / feeling like a child of God.  I was failing.  I had tiny minuscule obstacles to overcome (yes, a lot at once, but still tiny).  Things did not go my way that morning – but I was unable to maintain my positive attitude and enjoy the peace that comes with Jesus.  Gut check!  Job persevered, God expected me to persevere too, and I was not doing well.

I love getting those proverbial kicks in the pants occasionally.  I need them to stay in line.  My point is, yes there is a point.  All these little things are just that, things.  A “Job Day” is often coined to mean a bad day, a day where everything goes wrong.  But really, that is NOT a Job Day.  A true Job Day is a day when everything goes wrong – yet you persevere.  You keep your peace, you keep your heart for Jesus, you don’t let Satan take your thoughts, you don’t create scowl lines, you hold on to the joy of being a child of God!