So many times in my life, I let circumstances rip me from a close walk with God. It amazes me to think of the joy I have let this world steal from my life. There is nothing like walking with God and being so close with Him that nothing seems to matter. Some people ask what Heaven will be like; the whole time they miss the joy they can have here on Earth.

I worship a God that can meet my every need, not my every want. You see, there are lots of things in this life that I want to have. Usually it’s things that others have, like wealth, property, vehicles, you name it. The question I don’t seem to think about is, how did they get all of these things? Was it through prayer? Are they using these things to glorify God? Are people seeing these things and thanking God for them?

I have asked myself, in a moment of weakness, why God hasn’t made me a rich man. Thankfully, He answered me and told me that I wouldn’t be who He wants me to be if I was. That’s when you find out how close you are to Him. When He tells you something you may not want to hear, but you thank Him anyway.

We read in Job how God allowed Satan to attack him. He didn’t turn against God, for he knew God was the One in charge, not him. In Job 9:14-15 he says, “So how can I disagree with God? How can I possibly argue with him? Even if I hadn’t done anything wrong, I couldn’t answer him. I could only beg my Judge to have mercy on me.” Job understood that God was perfect and His plans were perfect. Why do we have such a hard time with that today? We question God on almost every decision He makes. Like Job said, how can we argue with Him?

I know it is a very hard task to walk through this life and not let circumstances affect your daily walk. My problem is not walking in the victory that Jesus died for. I don’t put on the armor of God before I walk out the door. I don’t pray like I should. Again, I let the day take control, not God. We need to be like Job, in all circumstances, seemingly the very worst in his case, yet he rather blames himself, not God. That is why I believe God allowed the devil to go after Job. God knew that Job would stand the test.

Are you struggling today? Does it seem like the world is against you in all that you do? Do you desire that big house you passed by the other day? Maybe you feel like if you made a little more money, you would be happy. 

If God isn’t first, your happiness will never be realized. At the end of Job, there is a jewel of wisdom. Job 42:5 says, “My ears had heard about you. But now my own eyes have seen you.” Oh, what joy there is in seeing God, not just hearing about Him. So many times we refer to God instead of looking toward God. My prayer is that we all seek God in the morning and thank Him at night. If He doesn’t control us all, we leave ourselves open to all sorts of attacks. We can’t continue to live in defeat, we must claim victory in Jesus.