Exposition
Like explained yesterday, settings literally mean the time, place,
manner and circumstances of a person. Taking over your settings
for Christ implies one’s ability to make Christ the Lord over his/her
environment or circumstances. In Job 1:1-3, we see Job as a man
who is wholeheartedly devoted to God and has made Him the center
of his life. As a result, God blessed him with a good family, a good
name and plenty of wealth. In fact, Job was living in a very good
and uninterrupted environment. But just as Job was enjoying his
circumstances, tragedy strikes and he lost everything in a space of
no time.
This suddenly made his setting became very unpleasant for
himself, his wife and all those who were around him. Everyone lost
hope and denounced their faith in God and expected Job to equally
do same. However, in the verse 20, Job amidst all the hopeless and
unpleasant situation, bowed down and worshipped God. He did not
allow his circumstances to disturb his faith in God. Instead, he stood
on his grounds at a point where everyone had given up on God till
the glory of the Lord was revealed.
Despite all your zeal and dedication to Christ Jesus as a youth,
you may equally find yourself in an unpleasant environment or
circumstance where everyone, including your loved ones might
give up on God and try to seek solution elsewhere. Job’s situation
suggests that, no matter how tough and tempting your settings may
look like, whether pleasant or unpleasant, you need to stand on your grounds and continue to lean on Christ who is able to supply all
your needs according to his glorious riches in heaven. Christ Jesus is
expecting us to stand in all the challenges that may come our way in
order to show forth His glory to the world in these perilous times. To
be able to do this, we must see God as bigger than the situation and
understand that often it is God who gives and takes away. (verse 21)