Lord Help Me Be Like Job

Today I was thinking about my three daughters.  They truly are my pride and joy and I am so delighted with their launch into their 20's with a light-hearted joy, wisdom from on high and a living faith in Christ that is full of purity, grace and truth to carry them on through this often tumultuous season of life.  But I am never far away from how Job felt about his own children many thousands of years ago.   Job had 7 sons and daughters and through no fault of his own they were suddenly swept away in a tragic demonic storm while they all celebrated together.  However, prior to this happening it tells of us of the faithful practices of Job on behalf of his children.  The scripture states that Job "was the greatest man among all the people of the East.  His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.  When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom. Three things I have tried to incorporate from Job's experience into my own fathering techniques.  One is that he let them live life.  He didn't interfere or corral them or shush or shun them.  Instead he embraced their youthful ways, blessed them and sought to father them through them.  The second is as important as the first.  He knew the significance of a pure heart that comes from prayer and worship.  Fun is important, especially when you are young before the days of trouble come, but faith is the bedrock of life and it is essential to remember your creator in the days of your youth.  He regularly brought them back to reality, and that reality is firmly centred around the throne of God.  Finally, and I really like this comment, this way of expressing his fatherly guidance was his regular custom.  It was his habit and I have striven to make this my habit as well.  This is my prayer for me.  That I would be like Job, one of the greatest men in the entire East who was more than a business man and more than a wealthy man, he was a great man of faith and a great father.  Lord help me be like Job.