Being out of pocket for the last few days (or just too busy to sit down and write), I have not been able to write much. I was thinking about what to write about and got to thinking about our Sunday School lesson this past weekend. We have been going through the book of Job with all the trials and hardships he had to face. We finally got to the end of the story where God restored everything he had lost two fold. Someone made the statement that Job was innocent and was allowed to be tried by Satan by God. There has been only one truly innocent man and that Jesus Christ. Job may not have had sin in his life right that moment but he was not innocent. Each one of us has sin in our lives. We cannot escape that on this earth. God allowed Job to go through the trials to allow Job to grow in his faith and trust in God. Maybe God could see in Job's heart that he was simply living out what he had been taught, but that it was not a heart relationship. We all do it, at least part of the time - answer the questions with the right words, use the right phrases when we're asked to pray, smile and say that everything is just wonderful - when we know it's not true. May Job needed to have that encounter with God to help him see what was truly important and what was just "stuff"! My family is very important to me, but if they are before God, then things are out of order. My job is important to me, but if it comes before God, then things are out of order. See the pattern? God expects us to put Him first and everything else will come together. Doesn't mean we won't ever have anymore problems, but it does mean God is faithful to walk through those problems with us! I am certainly glad to have Him by my side.

"Seek first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things will be added to you." Matthew 6:33