Job went through tremendous loss. Almost overnight he lost everything.  To make matters worse, his friends completely misread the situation claiming that God was punishing him. Job disagreed and he made his famous statement (Job 19:25):

“But as for me, I know that my redeemer lives.” *Bible Version: New Living Translation (NLT)

Job put his “but” at the beginning of an amazing statement. He says “But as for me, (…).” That in itself speaks volumes. With these four words Job expresses his faith.

Reality can be overwhelming; and yet we need to keep our eyes on the prize. Our prized possession is our faith. Faith is a gift from God, and the name of the gift is Jesus. Proclaimed by angels and currently preached in the world, the gospel of Jesus Christ is a groundbreaking message that shakes the universe, just as it shook up the shepherds, when they heard the message for the first time (Luke 2:10-11):

“But the angel said to them: ‘Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.’” 

“No ifs and buts!” – That’s what our mother used to say when we were arguing with her about something she did not want to hear about. The Lord listens to our cries and technically speaking, Jesus is the “if” and “but” of our worst situations.

Joshua once challenged the Israelites when they renewed their covenant with God at Shechem and said (Joshua 24:15):

“But if you see no benefit in serving the Lord, then choose for yourselves today whomever you will serve—whether the gods that your fathers served beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household—we will serve the Lord!” *Bible Translation: Evangelical Heritage Version (EHV)

The world we live in pulls us in ten different directions. We can put our foot down and focus on one direction: the road to heaven. With Joshua we can say: “But as for us, we will serve the Lord” – and if He is for us, what can be against us?

Faith changes everything.