Our Thursday night bible study has just concluded, and we really covered some ground!
It was the first time we’ve met via ‘Zoom’ video-conferencing rather than in real life, but that pesky coronavirus is not going to get us down!
The main text was chapter 1 of the book of Job in which a wealthy, blameless and upright man (named Job) received four lots of dreadful news all at the same time. Satan caused him to lose most of his possessions and all of his children to see if he would blame God.
As a group we wondered if we would respond to such bad news. Would we assume the suffering was some kind of punishment? Would we give up on God?
Job’s reaction was to go into mourning (tearing his clothes and shaving his head as was the custom for mourning at the time). However, he still worshipped God saying:
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.
The point is that Job’s priority was to honour God, regardless of circumstance. We went on to compare Job’s situation with that of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who also knew the importance of doing the right thing regardless of the potential consequences. The temptation of Jesus also shows us that honouring God is more important than power, or glory or even hunger.
Towards the end of our study, we were reminded of the need to take care of our mental health. We can do this by getting proper rest as shown in 1 Kings 19 v3-8 where angels comfort Elijah with rest and sustenance and a heavenly hug (well, a touch at any rate).
During this chaotic coronavirus chaos, our advice is:
- take care of your mental and physical health,
- be aware of the news, but don’t watch it too much and work out your best time to listen to it.
- take care of your neighbours with a friendly word even if it’s a just a phone call or a note through the door,
- follow the NHS advice on hand-washing, social distancing etc
- take time to be with God through quiet reflection, prayer and praise
On Sunday we hope to broadcast a service of some kind. More details will follow soon.
May God bless you and keep you safe!
Open Door Baptist Church 