Job 1:21 (NRSV)
Read Job 1:21 on biblegateway.com
Verse 21He said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord."
Devotion
How could God let this happen to us? My neighbor had lost her husband to a rare form of cancer, and she asked the question all morning. I had no answers. If the question crossed Job's mind, he didn't voice it. Instead, he offered a stunning counter-argument: Everything that's happened to me — good and bad — has been a gift. When Jesus prayed the night before he died, he asked God to stop the inexorable events leading to his execution, then concluded with words from the prayer he taught: "Thy will be done." Whenever we suffer, we know God has been there first.
Prayer
God of all compassion, through the suffering and death of your Son, you show us how far you will go to share in our suffering. Help us trust in your promise of resurrection in the midst of suffering. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen.