There's a principal known as Murphy's Law which states "if anything can go wrong, it will." There are hundreds of variations but the crux of it is simple: bad things are going to happen.
I am reminded of Job when I think of this concept. There he was, a good God-fearing guy with a wholesome family and a successful job. He didn't do anything wrong; he was a genuinely wonderful person. Despite his good works and success, however, he still lost everything. And whenever he thought things couldn't get any worse something else went wrong. He lost his animals, his wealth, his family, his health, and even his good reputation. Things just weren't going his way.
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It sounds really discouraging. Why would God make such a good guy go through such rough times? It's the age old moral question. Why do bad things happen to good people - and vice versa, why do good things happen to bad people? It just doesn't seem right.
There's a reason for that. You see before any of this stuff happened to Job an important conversation was had between God and Satan. Satan approached God as He was bragging on his servant Job; so Satan challenged him, stating that if he was allowed to make Job's life hard, God's name would be cursed. But God had faith in Job and truly believed in him. He knew His name would be glorified even more despite the hardships. Behind the scenes God is still working, and He believes in us and watches out for us even in the hard times. Sometimes we go through rough waters, not because we did anything wrong but because through the hardships God's name can be lifted even higher.
I think Job himself is an encouraging hero as well. He had so many opportunities to curse God and renounce God and leave his faith behind, but he never did. He asked questions and he got upset, which is to be expected with all he suffered through, but he never gave up on God. In fact, it made his relationship even stronger.
I admire Job's faithfulness, because so often when hard times hit it's easy to lose hope and become discouraged. It's easy to doubt and get angry at God - even when He knows His end result is ultimately going to be so much better than ours.
In the end Job was blessed with so much more than he lost because of his amazing faith. And it's shown throughout scripture that the hardest times tend to be followed by the greatest blessings. They may not all be earthly blessings. Sometimes it may be a lesson learned or personal growth that helps later in life. It may be a testimony that leads someone else to Christ. Or it may be something you don't find out until you meet God personally.
Whatever your situation, even when it seems like everything is crumbling around you, remember the story of Job. God believes in you, He has a plan for you, and things will work out the way they are intended to. He's going to see you through to the end. Life is hard, and things are going to go wrong. It doesn't matter who you are or where you come from. Even so, God is always in control. It's hard to believe sometimes, but have hope—even when you are upset and in the middle of the storm have hope. God is in control.
