{"id":1536,"date":"2013-02-20T02:27:46","date_gmt":"2013-02-20T07:27:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/awakeintheworld\/?p=1536"},"modified":"2013-02-20T02:27:46","modified_gmt":"2013-02-20T07:27:46","slug":"wisdom-of-job-holding-onto-faith-through-adversity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/awakeintheworld\/2013\/02\/wisdom-of-job-holding-onto-faith-through-adversity.html","title":{"rendered":"Wisdom of Job: Holding Onto Faith Through Adversity"},"content":{"rendered":"

Some of you may have heard of a guy named Job. He was famous in biblical times because he did all of the right things, loved God, and yet his life fell apart. He fell ill with painful boils on his body. He lost his wealth, his wife, and his friends who watched it happen encouraged him to curse God because of his change of fortune.\u00a0\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

But Job didn\u2019t. He said that he must have done something to merit the problems. He took responsibility (even if he didn\u2019t know what for) \u2013 and I suspect he probably worked really hard to turn things around and get back on his feet. In the end he ended up with wealth, health, a family, and material blessings that far surpassed what he\u2019d had before.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re in a situation like Job\u2019s, don\u2019t despair. Sometimes for reasons unknown (and sometimes due to past karma and things we don\u2019t remember) we work hard, do the right things, love God and yet still experience hardships and misfortunes. One of my teachers, Sai Baba, said the wise spiritual seeker will experience both good fortune and bad with equanimity. Easy to say, but in my experience it\u2019s not so easy to do when you\u2019re down and despairing. But those same experiences shape our character and often bear more sweet fruit than we dare to imagine.<\/p>\n

Consider Dr. Eben Alexander, author of \u201cProof of Heaven\u201d. He suffered physical pain and debilitation, ended up in the hospital and his family thought he was dying. But during the experience he experienced total unconditional love. In the aftermath he has also deepened his relationship with his family and written a bestselling book.<\/p>\n

So if you\u2019re going through challenges, hang in there. Life may not always bring good times, but seek the gems in the experiences. They may bring unexpected joy.<\/p>\n

Bio:<\/strong> Debra Moffitt is the award winning author of Awake in the World: 108 Practices to Live a Divinely Inspired Life<\/a> and “Garden of Bliss”<\/a><\/strong>. A visionary, dreamer and teacher, she\u2019s devoted to nurturing the spiritual in everyday life. She leads workshops on spiritual practices, writing and creativity in the U.S. and Europe. More at http:\/\/www.awakeintheworld.com<\/a> and on Facebook at: http:\/\/www.facebook.com\/DebraMoffittAwakeintheWorld<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Some of you may have heard of a guy named Job. He was famous in biblical times because he did all of the right things, loved God, and yet his life fell apart. He fell ill with painful boils on his body. He lost his wealth, his wife, and his friends who watched it happen…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,10,4,26,3],"tags":[346,1040,345,1041,1044,872,878,1043,1039,1042,919],"class_list":["post-1536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-buddhism","category-faith","category-inspiration","category-meditation","category-spiritual-practice","tag-awake-in-the-world","tag-biblical-character","tag-debra-moffitt","tag-dr-eben-alexander","tag-faith-in-the-divine-self","tag-garden-of-bliss","tag-god","tag-holding-onto-faith","tag-job","tag-proof-of-heaven","tag-self-confidence"],"yoast_head":"\nWisdom of Job: Holding Onto Faith Through Adversity - Awake in the World<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Wisdom of Job: Holding Onto Faith Through Adversity - Awake in the World\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Some of you may have heard of a guy named Job. 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