Consider the Man Job
Read Job 1:8. How was Job described by God Himself?
That’s pretty good, having even God call Job “perfect” and “upright”
(Job 1:8), so perfect and upright that no one else on the earth at that
time could equal him. Again, these are God’s own words, verbatim,
about Job.
Even after Job faced one catastrophe after another, God repeated
what He had first said about Job, that there was no one else on earth
like him, perfect and upright and so forth, except that then a new ele-
ment was added. Job was still all these things, “ ‘although you incited
Me against him, to destroy him without cause’ ” (Job 2:3, NKJV).
And though we get a powerful glimpse of Job’s perfection and
uprightness in how he refused to let go of God despite all that hap-
pened and despite his unfortunate’s wife’s taunt, “ ‘Do you still hold
fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!’ ” (Job 2:9, NKJV), the book
reveals another aspect of Job’s life before the drama here unfolded.
Read Job 29:12–16. What is depicted here that gives us even more
insight into the secret of Job’s character?
Perhaps what’s most insightful here are Job’s words, “ ‘And I
searched out the case that I did not know’ ” (Job 29:16, NKJV). In other
words, Job didn’t simply wait, for instance, for some beggar in rags to
approach him for a handout. Instead, Job was proactive in seeking out
needs and then acting on them.
Ellen G. White suggested, “Do not wait for them [the poor] to call
your attention to their needs. Act as did Job. The thing that he knew
not he searched out. Go on an inspecting tour and learn what is needed
and how it can be best supplied.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5,
p. 151. This is a level of money management and stewardship of God’s
resources that is beyond the practice of many of God’s children today.
Read Isaiah 58:6–8. How can we take these ancient words and
apply them to ourselves today?
