The students were anxiously awaiting the bell to ring. All they could think about was not having school for a week; no school work, vacations, playing outside all day for 5 days, and staying up late. It was the last day of school before spring break. As the students hustled out the door, the teacher was trying to get one more hug from her students before leaving and having a week off. She would see students in the hall calling her name and saying good-bye. It was a joyous day for the students as well as for the teachers. Everyone knew the one week of spring break would go by fast. Little did the teacher’s, administrators, students, or parents know that one week would turn into four weeks of no school. As a teacher, the first three years of teaching 4th grade, I would cry on the last day of school. Even on a planned summer break, my heart was sad, because I grew to love every one of my students, and I knew I would miss them dearly.
When I received the news that we would not be returning to school for three more weeks, my heart sank. I had not been prepared for this moment– no one was. I know there are many other teachers that are feeling the same way I am right now. Tomorrow I will be entering the school building, only to retrieve the things I need to bring home, and unplanned, there are many other situations in life that are unplanned and unknown. There are unplanned job losses, unplanned pregnancies, unplanned divorces, unplanned market crashes, and so many other unplanned events. There is one thing through all the unplanned; there is a God who knows the plans for us. His promise is given to us in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, ”plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”
During this time of the unknown, it can be difficult to find peace or believe that God has a plan for us, especially when our plans of normal day life have been drastically interrupted. I am sure Job never was prepared for all that he would lose during his lifetime. Job had all that he could have dreamed when disaster struck him. In a matter of moments and days he lost his property, wealth, children, his health, and even his wife’s support. There are several different lessons in Job’s story that can bring encouragement and faith to our hearts during our moment of the unknown.
The first lesson we can take away from Job’s life is that bad things will happen to good people. The book of Job opens up by stating how Job was a blameless man. Not only was he blameless, but he was a man who feared God and turned away from evil. He was a good man. He had unwavering faith, and it was his faith that gave him the strength to endure his unplanned and painful moments in life.
A second lesson we can learn from the life of Job is to never lose hope in God. As Job states in Job 13, “though he slay me, I will hope in Him.” That is a reminder that our hope is in the God of creation, the Maker of Heaven and Earth. Though we are feeling fear of the unknown, or fear of a broken relationship or marriage, fear of never being able to have children, or fear of being a wife, our hope is in God.
The last lesson we can glean from Job is the fact that God is in control. Right now our world seems a little out of control. However, we serve a God that is in control of the world. God reminds us of this in Psalm 95:4, “He holds in his hands the depths of the earth and the mightiest mountains.” In just one word, God spoke everything into existence; and in one word, He can make everything disappear. He is a mighty and powerful God who cares so much for us that He made an unbreakable covenant with us through His son, Jesus Christ. He will never leave us nor forsake us, and He is in control of the out-of-control situations.
As we go through any situation that is not planned, such as a virus that is global and causing panic, or a pregnancy test that came out positive, a surprise package serving you divorce papers, or a last day on the job you were not prepared for, remember that God is and will always be in control. Our hope is in God, the creator of all things. Trust in God and know that if He can create and sustain all living things in the universe, He can take care of you.
