Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil.”
Far too often we allow ourselves to be defined by our circumstances. The things that have happened to us become who we are, and not the “content of our character.” The book of Job is my favorite book in the Word of God. Job was a man that endured overwhelming circumstances in his life, yet stayed faithful to God.
Job was a businessman, but that was what Job did, not who he was. He was a husband, and the parent of ten children, but again those were roles that he held, not who he was. Job lost all the he owned, then his children, then his health. Those were tragedies that happened to Job, yet they are not what defined Job.
Three times Job is described, in the first two chapters as a man that was; perfect, upright, one that feared God and eschewed (avoided) evil. That is who Job was. What happened to him didn’t define him. He isn’t called a poor man, even though he lost all his possessions. He isn’t characterized as a parent that lost his children. No where do we read that he is described as a leper, or a diseased man. Even though all those things were true about Job’s life. They didn’t define who he was.
It was because of who he was, that he was able to endure unbelievable heartache in his life. Job had a consistent walk with God, in the face of his trials, and came forth as gold.
What is it that we allow ourselves to defined by? Our experiences? Our tragedies? Our triumphs? The things that happen to us can help shape who we are, but they are not designed to define us. If we allow our difficulties to define us, we will have a low opinion of ourselves; if we let our victories define us we will have too high of an opinion of ourselves.
Like Job, our character shines through as we go through trials and triumphs. That is who we are. The real us is on display during the highs and lows of life. That is what we are ultimately defined by, how we react to our circumstances.
Oh, that it might be said of each of us that we are, perfect, upright, a person that fears God, and avoids evil, that when circumstances pop up in our lives, we would come forth as gold like Job. That would be a great definition for anyone.