• Job 1:1 “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job…”
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One of my first messages in evangelism was “Why?” from the book of Job. In order to handle the material as properly as possible, I carefully read through Job 11 times and researched other preachers’ ideas on the book before the message was preached. Since every believer and every home goes through trials and rough patches, I believe this series on the book of Job can be very beneficial to the reader. Here are some quick introductory thoughts:

• – The book of Job is entirely focused on trials: answering why someone goes through trials, noticing both the spiritual and physical realms surrounding trials, how we are to properly go through trials for ourselves or for others, and the end result of correctly responding to trials.
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• – We must take note when God devotes an entire book in the Bible to something. (Ex: Psalms – a song book/praise in music; Song of Solomon – romance in/relationship of marriage; Job – trials of the righteous; etc…) If God focuses an entire lengthy book to one’s trials, it means that trials are important to God and that there is a lot more to learn about trials than just a couple of lessons, especially since Job is 42 chapters!
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• – Most of the book of Job is dialogue. An important fact we will discuss more in future articles.
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• – The book of Job is also a crucial book for those not presently going through trials. Most of Job focuses on his three friends’ inappropriate response to Job’s trials. A HUGE amount of the difficulties associated with trials originate from those not experiencing hardships similar to trial-bearer.
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• – Lastly, the book of Job is certainly a book that helps individuals through the trials of doing right, but there is more. Job was a family man. Job was a husband and a father. Job lost all 10 children to death. (Job 1:19) Job lost his job/his income. (vs. 14-17) Job’s wife has been pushed to the edge of sanity resulting in her scolding of her husband, Job, to curse God and be done with life. (Job 2:9) Job’s trials cause even his closest friends to turn against him. The book of Job is about more than an individual. Job is also about “the hurting home”. Trials can strengthen or devastate entire families.
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I exhort you, dear reader, to keep reading these articles. There is much, much more to Job’s 42 chapters than the first two chapters and the last chapter often preached/written about. Every individual and every family can be greatly helped by learning about “the patience of Job” and “that the Lord is very pitiful, and of tender mercy.” (Jms. 5:11)