God Has Got A Bet On You! JOB-It-Out!

One day... a couple of weeks ago... a dear friend of mine called me on the telephone. She was down and depressed. Her name is Patricia Jo. But I call her Patty-Cake.

Patty-Cake said, "Girl, I just sat down and wrote a letter to the Lord and told Him to just take me. I'm ready to go. I'm just so tired of being sick. I'm just tired."

You see... Patty-Cake has been battling breast cancer for the past 2 years. And she is a chronic asthmatic... really bad lungs. And the radiation from her cancer treatments has damaged her lungs even more.

Already... Patty-Cake has escaped the jaws of death... twice. Only to recover and continue with her life. But now... Patty-Cake had made up her mind that she did not want to continue her struggle... her fight to breathe... her fight against cancer.

While her feelings were understandable... they were not acceptable... for me.

I told Patty-Cake that she was being ungrateful. All of those times that she had prayed to God to spare her life... no matter how tough it was... she was now telling the Lord that living was not enough.

I told her to, first, ask the Lord for forgiveness... for being ungrateful for the life He had spared.

Life is hard for everyone in different ways. But we have to give thanks in all things... the good and the bad. And move on.

Then I told her to man-up and JOB-it-out.

I reminded her of the Book of JOB in the Holy Bible... and how the Devil made a bet with the the Lord that he could shake JOB's faith in God... if the Lord would let him try.

The Lord accepted the Devil's challenge and allowed the Devil to bring all of these hardships down on JOB... to see if JOB would turn on God because of his misfortunes.

Well... the Devil lost that bet. Despite everything that the Devil did to JOB... removing all of his many riches and killing all of his children... JOB kept his faith in God, saying, "Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord has given, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord".

This is what I reminded Patty-Cake of... the trials of JOB... the faith of JOB.

I told her, "God has got a bet on YOU!"

And I implored her to "JOB-it-out!"

A few days later... Patty-Cake called me again... in much better spirits. She thanked me for rebuking her depression and self-pity. She also stunned me when she used the phrase "JOB-it-out". She had shared the phrase with her daughter Lisa, her sister Laura and her best friend Bobbie. And she remarked that one of them even said, "Yeah, that sounds like something Dee would say."

Yep... that sounds like me alright. But it should sound like all of us. No one has it easy. We all struggle from time to time. And what enables us to look back at those struggles is our faith... the faith that got us through it.

Without faith... life is real hard. With faith... life is bearable. Because God will not let us fail... if we believe.

For the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Celebration in our bar this year... I decided to share my "JOB-it-out" phrase with everyone who had gathered for the celebration.

I wrote this poem:


When In Doubt... JOB-It-Out!
by Deeo'rumpshaker

There was a man named JOB who was truly blessed.
Until... suddenly... his faith was put to the test.
The Devil bet the Lord that he could lead JOB astray...
If the Lord would only step back and let the Devil have his way.
The Lord said, Go ahead, Devil, do what you will.
But promise... my man, JOB, you will not kill.
The Devil took away all of JOB's riches... everything he owned,
Riddled his body with disease and left JOB all alone.
As the story goes... the Devil lost that bet on JOB.
And God restored JOB's riches... double-fold!
Now... JOB's is a story we all should heed...
Especially when we're wrestling with life or are in need.
No matter what your struggle is or what you're going through...
Remember... just like JOB... God's got a bet on you!
And when times get Hard and your world is in doubt...
Keep the faith... like JOB... and JOB-it-out!