The Middle

(originally posted on 10/11/2018 and posted in its original form)

The middle as defined by Merriam-Webster is

“the position of being among or in the midst of something”.

Tell me have you ever been in the middle.

In the middle of your siblings.

In the middle of a fight.

In the middle of a crowd.

In the middle of traffic.

In the middle of a storm.

In middle school.

In the middle of a test.

In the middle of the school year.

In the middle of the workday.

In the middle of raising your kids.

In the middle of a job change.

In the middle of a divorce.

In the middle of a healing process.

In the middle of life.

In the middle of a season.

Just in the middle.

Being in the middle sucks. Being the middle child. Being caught in the middle of something that you shouldn’t have been in. Being in the middle of an argument. We all I think have been in the middle.

We know what the beginning was. We know where we have been. We know what was. But now we are in the middle. In the middle of what was and what is to come. In the middle of what we did not even expect. The middle.

But what if I told you that there are great things that can happen in the middle.

When I think about someone who was caught in the middle - I think of Job. Job suddenly found himself in the middle. But why was this such a rough middle for Job? We read this about him in Job 1:

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” - Job 1:1-3 NIV

Job had a lot going for him. He had a lot possessions and was a very wealthy man. But Job would soon find himself in the middle. He would soon find himself between what was and the future. There was a conversation going on above – in the heavens - that was going to change the life of Job in an instant and forever.

Satan had come into the presence of the Lord after roaming the earth. (Satan still roams the earth today - looking who he can attack next.)

Satan then has this conversation with the Lord:

“Then the Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ ‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.’” - Job 1:8-11 NIV

But God also gives Satan a warning, He tells Satan to not lay a finger on Job himself (Job 1:12). Then Satan leaves and Job’s life changes in a matter of minutes.

First, a servant comes running to him saying that the servants in the field had been attacked and killed and that all of the cattle had been stolen. So Job lost his cattle - his source of food and money. But while that servant is still telling Job what had happened, another messenger came with more news.[1]

The second servant came and said that a great fireball came from the sky and burned all the sheep and the shepherds. So Job lost his sheep and shepherds - this could be another source of income. While that servant was still telling Job his news - another messenger showed up with even more bad news.[1]

This messenger told Job that another group of people came and took all of his camels and killed all of the servants that were watching them. Once again a possible income for Job. But it wasn’t over yet. There was another messenger that showed up in the middle of the other messenger’s speech with even more news.

This messenger had the worst news of them all. He told Job that the house his sons and daughters were in had collapsed due to a huge wind that came on the house and all of his children were killed.[1]

Job couldn’t take it anymore. The Bible says:

“At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’” - Job 1:20-21 NIV

Wait! Did I read that right?! In the middle of all of that - Job sent up a hallelujah! After losing his kids, his cattle, his sheep, his camels, and his servants. We also find out that Job also lost his health and had gone down so far that people couldn’t recognize him. They just sat with him because of his great suffering.[2]

But Job knew that God was there with him. There in the middle of all of that - God was him. Elevation Worship has a song called “Here Again” and the song opens with these words:

“Can't go back to the beginning

Can't control what tomorrow will bring

But I know here in the middle

Is the place where you promise to be”[3]

God is in the middle with you - whatever your middle might be. Your middle may be sickness or recovering from sickness. Your middle may be raising your kids who are now teenagers. Your middle may be dealing with divorce. Your middle may be dealing with a job loss. Whatever it might be - God is in the middle with you. Job knew that and he had his eyes up and sent a shout of praise to God from the middle of his situation.

Job wasn’t alone. He was just in the middle of what had been and what was to come. Job had to go through the middle and we at the very end of his story what happened to him.

“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former part. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys.” - Job 42:12 NIV

Job had a better life than he had before and going through the middle. We may not like the middle, but going through the middle with God there – as He promised – will take us to something even better than we had before!

Hallelujah that God is in the middle!!!

___________________

[1] Job 1

[2] Job 2

[3] Elevation Worship “Here Again” was written by Amy Corbett, Chris Brown, and Steven Furtick. Elevation Worship lyrics are property and copyright of their owners. "Here Again" lyrics provided for educational purposes and personal use only.

This post references the lyrics of a song. The meaning of the lyrics and the song in this post is my own interpretation.