Day 6: Trust in the Lord

Genesis 12:1-4 Through Abram, God began to gather his people into one, a process that finds its ultimate fulfillment in Christ. Because of his faith and trust in God, Abram readily obeyed, and for this fidelity he would be richly BLESSED and become the father of a GREAT NATION. The Epistle to the Hebrews extols Abram’s exemplary virtues (cf. Heb 11:8-19). (CCC 59-61, 72, 144-147, 762, 2570)

Ch 12:3 By you all the families...bless themselves: Abram’s most illustrious descendant would be JESUS CHRIST, the Son of God. Through him, the entire human family would receive the greatest blessing-the gift of redemption and eternal life. (CCC 706)

Ch 12:4-9 Abram’s faith was expressed in total docility and obedience to God’s plan. His faith is evident in his works, which bore witness to the sincerity and humility of his INTERIOR LIFE OF PRAYER. His love for God manifested itself through his construction of altars and sacrificial offerings in all the places he resided. (CCC 144-147, 2570)

Ch 12:10-20 To protect himself, Abram concealed that Sarai was his wife. Nevertheless, God preserved them from harm. This simple incident shows that God is a PERSONAL GOD, whose concern is not restricted to particular nations or places. His love extends to all people in all places at all times. The obligation to speak the truth is not unconditional; there are circumstances where love, charity, safety, privacy, or the common good require silence. For example, obligations of justice require discretion and silence regarding information to which another person has no right, and certain professional confidences and the SEAL OF CONFESSION require silence rather than disclosure. (CCC 2488-2492)

Job 1:1-5 Job enjoyed what could be considered an ideal life. He had all the material wealth anyone would want surrounded by many loving children. Moreover, he was very virtuous and completely docile to God’s will. Under the prevailing opinion that prosperity was a sign of being in God’s grace, one would readily conclude that Job was without sin. Job offered intercessory prayer and sacrifices as a way of atoning for the sins of his sons and daughters. St. John Chrysostom saw in this passage a JUSTIFICATION FOR OFFERING PRAYERS AND SACRIFICES ON BEHALF OF THE DEAD: “If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them” (CCC 1032)

Job 1:13-22 Job suffered great calamity and personal loss, yet he remained faithful. He recognized that all his possessions were gratuitously given to him by God. Therefore, he knew that God, who is the SOURCE OF ALL GOOD, had the right to take away those same gifts. The fire of God: This is an ancient expression for a LIGHTNING STRIKE. 

Job 2:1-13 Job’s troubles were compounded by a painful and disfiguring affliction. Job, however, rightly believed that faithfulness to God requires both an acceptance of both the good and the bad that may befall a person. Three of Job’s friends paid him a visit and sat shiva with him, a Jewish tradition of seven days of silent mourning that is normally reserved for a person’s death. The scene is remarkable in that NONE OF THESE VISITORS was a Jew himself. 

Ch 2:13 The Hebrew language makes no distinction between “evil” and “suffering,” using the same word for both. This indicates the close, perceived relationship between sin and hardship between the ancient Jews.

Proverbs 1:7 Fear of the Lord: This refers not to fright but to awe and reverence toward God. Respect and love for God is the path to wisdom…(CCC 1653, 2214, 2221, 2688)

(*The Didache Bible RSV-CE Ignatius Edition, 2006)

• The narrative books of Scripture will show that the great Giants of our faith, even as they hear the words of God they were still very broken i.e Abram giving his wife Sarai to Pharaoh.

• Even the Father of our Faith, Abram does bad things

• Satan is the one who accuses 

• The Book of Job is one of the Wisdom Books which is a dramatic poem about the problem of evil (suffering) of the innocent 

• The other Wisdom Books are: Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Book of Wisdom, and Sirach) *NABRE 3rd ed Catholic Study Bible

• CCC 164:...” ‘we walk by faith not by sight’...faith is often lived in darkness and can be put to the test. The world we live in often seems very far from the one promised us by faith. Our experiences of evil and suffering, injustice, and death, seem to contradict the Good News; they can shake our faith and become a temptation against it.”

• Satan accuses God and Job

• Abram and Job are called, but neither of them are perfect

• Yet, they still demonstrate Faith (answer God’s Call and Trust His Plan)

• Job’s initial response to all the terrible things that happened to him was to WORSHIP GOD

• This is the call to every single one of us

• Life is not always going to make sense, but we KNOW that the Lord is always going to be present

• When God allows us to endure incredible trials, we will be tempted to turn away from Him, but we must not

• Even when we are not faithful, God is steadfast

• God steadfastly calls each of us to belong to Him

Prayer by Fr. Mike: "Father in Heaven we thank you and we give you praise. Thank you for your Word. Thank you for the gift of revealing yourself to us, revealing your heart to us even in broken situations. We ask that you please send your Holy Spirit that when we are broken, when we fail, when we fall, and when we are suffering that we turn more deeply to you, that we refuse to curse you, that we refuse to run away from you, that we refuse to hide from you. But instead, come to you in our brokenness and come to you in our need. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen."