I started reading about Job yesterday. He had everything: a great family, lots of livestock, and lots of wealth. And then God allows it all to be taken because God is confident that Job will stand firm in his faith.

Job’s response to his family’s murder and the desolation of everything he owns: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return. The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job knew the secret of enduring trials: Have an eternal perspective. He knew that this world was just where he would spend 70 or 80 years of his life. Though he had many riches, he understood that it was all a gift from God—nothing that he deserved. He knew that this earth was just a place where moth and rust destroy. He was awaiting eternity.

I’m not going to lie. I really like my stuff. I have a comfortable apartment, a car that works, and enough money to get a latte every once in a while. I know God can use anything to test me, and sometimes I’m scared that he might. And I am scared of how I will respond to it. Will I bless the Lord, regardless of my circumstances?

“Count it all joy, my brothers, when you face trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4