January 17-19, 2013 You call that a problem?

“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job 13:15

     A co-worker of mine has this saying within her group of friends when one of them complains about something that is less than critically important in their lives. For example, on Kwajalein, we may complain that the one Burger King fast food restaurant we have is out of French fries, and we don’t know when they will have them in again. Or, the one local department type store is out of triple A batteries for our game controller or label maker.  These are what my co-worker and her friends would call “a first world problem.”  It’s not like we have no water and have to save empty milk jugs or juice containers that someone on Kwajalein is going to throw out just to fill them up with potable water from a hose at the dock before we take our boat back home to the nearby island of Ebeye like so many of our Marshallese        co-workers or their family members have to do in order to have water for washing, drinking, and cooking.  Not having access to clean, running water in our homes is what most would call a third world problem, which is truly a problem because we need water to live.  As I near the end of the book of Genesis in my daily Bible, I have discovered that pretty much all of my problems are “first-world” compared to the inhabitants of the world back in Biblical days.  As I read about Joseph (the son of Jacob, who is the son of Isaac, who is the son of Abraham-the father of all nations) and how he suffered not only at the hands of his brothers (who sold him into slavery because he was the father’s favorite), but also his Egyptian master (who put him into jail because his wife told a falsehood about Joseph) and subsequently spent years away from his homeland before God brought him back to a place of honor within his society and his family, I feel humbled and blessed. I have always had plenty of food to eat, nice clothes to wear, a family and friends to support me. I do not know what it is like truly to be in dire need, to be accused of something I did not do to the point of suffering in prison for it.  The families in Genesis often struggled hard to get to the places there were in life and with God, which brings me to the verse I chose for today. It’s from the book of Job, who unlike Jacob or any of our families in Genesis so far, suffered more than any human being should ever have to, and yet, he continued to choose God through all of it.  I’m sure I will be writing more about Job when I get to that part of my Bible during this year, but to give you an idea, this man lost everything he had including every single family member (of which he had 10 children) and every bit of wealth he had worked hard for and then he almost lost his life, and still, he worshipped God for it. If we could have even an ounce of His faith in God’s plan for us, trust in what He is allowing to occur in our lives, what peace we would live with daily, knowing no matter what happens we don’t need to worry because He will bring good out of it; He will take care of it in His way and His time. So many of us don’t know what it’s like to suffer in our “first world” situation, not compared to so many others in this world.  It’s time to worship God even in the midst of the most trying times of our lives; actually, we should worship God ESPECIALLY during those times, and he will grant us the strength of Job and the favor of Joseph, and we will prosper, live, love, and sleep in perfect peace, God’s perfect peace.