Count Your Blessings, & Praise The Lord Even If They Get Interrupted
Word-Of-The-Day: ’<Job said,> “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”’ (Job 1:21)
The last month had my wife and I recount our blessings. Usually, life is relatively ‘up’, and although the occasional storm comes – usually something that can be resolved quickly. A well pump goes out – get a replacement pump and replace the broken one. This occurs roughly every 12 to 15 years, so not often. The HVAC system and the water heater usually are at the same intervals, with the HVAC needing some attention 1 or 2 times in that span, usually in the latter half of its lifespan before needing replacement.
But in the current 30-day span, all at once, our 3-year-old HVAC system would intermittently stop blowing cold air, in the heat of the day. Our 2-year-old water heater started to leak, and our 4-year-old pool pump stopped circulating the pool water. A one point, we had all three repair services at the house on the same day (fortunately they spaced themselves out and came one after the other).
The pool pump was the quickest fix, only needing a backflush to clear whatever was clogging its intake. The HVAC system needed two additional visits by the repairman to resolve the issue, a faulty high pressure switch in the outside unit of the system. It was still under warranty, so thankfully the out-of-pocket cost was minimal.
The water heater, though, was the most inconvenient and longest lasting issue. Initially, the leak was a dribble, so working with the manufacturer a warranty case was opened. A repairman was sent, who determined it was possibly the lower element seal was weak and replaced the element. But a day or so later, the dribble returned, so they and the manufacturer were called and a replacement unit was authorized.
However, I had to first order (and pay for) the replacement, then wait until it arrived in the local home-improvement store before the old unit had to be taken to the store to do a swap and a reimbursement would be issued. I thought this was a bit strange, but went through the process to get the exact tank to replace what we had. Of course, in waiting for the replacement to arrive, the old tank finally ruptured and started to gush out water. I happened to be near the tank, so I was able to turn the water and power off to the tank. No more hot water!
With that, our situation is today, the replacement tank has finally arrived at the store, and the repairman will arrive this afternoon to do the swap, and assist me in taking the old tank to pick up the new one. We have not had hot water for several days; thankfully the Florida summer has given us not-so-cold water to shower in, but it is not the crispy warm water we are accustomed to.
The first thought is, ‘why me, Lord?’ Why do all these things have to happen at once? But I then thought of Job, and realized how blessed we are to have a water heater, an HVAC, and a pool that can break, when others may not have such luxuries. Some people elsewhere in the world need to boil water over a fire, or have to live in the heat, even without a fan. A pool to many is the local pond or watering hole, competing with crocodiles or other animals to gain access.
We must take our ups and downs in stride and in line with our relationship with the Lord. All of us have blessings, and all of us will perhaps either will face the interruption or elimination of those blessings throughout our timeline. The blessings we lose may be to set us up for more blessings, or they may be taken away to steer us on a different path. Once we understand that it is of the Lord’s doing through His plan that we can figure out what He wants us to learn and grow from our experiences. For me, I believe it was to grow in Faith and patience (and perhaps learn to enjoy any shower, hot or cold.)
If anyone knew about life’s ups and downs, it was good old Job. Job had it all early on, he was rich with a trophy wife (well, we don’t know that), kids who went to the finest universities (well, they didn’t have universities back then), and he was a fitness freak who hit the gym every day (Ok, he didn’t do this either, as they didn’t have or need gyms). But he did have for his time everything one could want; he was a wealthy land and livestock owner in great health with grown and successful children.
The one thing Job had above all else, was he had a very close relationship with God. One so close that when Satan wanted to tempt the most Godly man available to show he could sway him into renouncing God, God confidently and without reservation offered Job (Job 1:8). Job ended up losing all of his possessions, all his children got killed, and later lesions and sick diseases took over his body. Only his wife remained, and three close friends (who later gave bad advice, but at least stuck with Job).
Job was certainly down, perhaps the lowest anyone would ever be. If you had, in a span of a day or two, lost your possessions, all of your children, and then woke up with a dehabilitating disease, how ‘up’ would you be? Then Job’s wife chimed in, ‘curse God and die!’ (Job 2:9).
But Job didn’t give up, he instead praised God, understanding that all he had and ever will have is God’s, and that God is in control. Being rich and having children, with good health, were all gifts from God.
I’m certain Job experienced ups and downs before, and he knew that God was there before, would be there now, and would be with him again. Indeed, we can jump to the end of Job and see God restored everything Job had lost, and then some, including his health and allowed him to have more children (Job 42:10-17).
When we have our ups and downs, we may never go as far down as Job did, and when we go down in the dumps we may never go back up, at least from the secular (human) perspective (see Paul). But understand God does not abandon us, He knows what we are going through, and like Job we need to rely on God more than ever. We need to ensure that we rely on God in both the greatest of times and the worst of times. Remember God is on our side!
