Job 1:21 He said,
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked I shall return there.
The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
22 Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.

The Book of Job is a great resource for those who suddenly have lost everything. This can come by the death of loved ones, a fire takes everything you own, a financial crisis which wipes out your entire life savings, an accident which cripples you, a storm which takes down your house and destroys all your possessions, the sudden loss of a career, a diagnosis of a deadly disease, a loss of a relationship, etc. Life will deal out these horrible circumstances.

When we lose everything, the test of whether you are a child of God or not is what we see of Job’s reaction when he lost everything, he did not sin. Even Job’s wife tempted him when she said “just curse God and die”, yet Job’s faith did not waver. Job figured out that it was the Lord who gives are blessings and indeed has the right to take them away for His will and His purpose, so there is nothing to curse Him for, but only to praise Him in this.

The test is where you turn. Will you give into the temptations of your fellow man or will you turn solely to God. During these times, the extreme stress and anguish can turn you every which way. If your faith has been granted by God, you will turn only to God to see His hand, His purpose, and His will in this just as Job. Job’s loss was a whirlwind. The devil was allowed to take his family, his entire estate, and then his health. The devil did not believe that this faith God granted was strong enough through a gigantic sudden loss, but as we know, the devil was wrong.

But it doesn’t stop the devil, he is a like a child who is told “no”, so he will continue to provide these horrific tests on God’s loved ones and will sadly be mistaken each time he has tried or tries. He will always be disappointed by God, “through all this, they did not sin”.

It is a huge test! A sudden loss in your life of everything is something we aren’t really prepared for. We might have made contingency plans in our mind, but when the loss comes it is realized and no amount of planning would have been helpful. It did not soften the blow.

There is always a purpose from God. In Job’s case, I believe it was a case of reaching his dear friends of whom Job probably did not share much of God to. They realized much through Job’s plight. And we read God restoring Job only after Job prayed for his friends.

Sometimes the purpose is to end something so that you could have NEW beginning! And that certain people you really didn’t expect or that you took for granted are given some light. God sees a million steps ahead of you, so trust in Him through these times. Really TRUST in Him every second of every day, and you will see things you did not see before!

The purpose for your loss will be God’s. It might be the same as Job’s or it could be He is doing other things specifically in your life. Maybe a new direction, a new outlook, a test of your faith to show the church you really are of God, or it could be to show doubting unbelievers that your faith from God is something to behold. And hopefully when that time comes, you remember the words of Job! “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

You see, it is easy to praise God when times are good in your life, when the world seems peaceful. It is WHEN you lose everything that this praise must come with the same vigor and understanding if your faith was truly granted by God.

Philippians 3:8
More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ