I encourage you to read the first chapter of Job if you haven’t recently. Job had no clue what was behind all that happened to him. We know because God recorded it for us. In Job 1:8 God asked satan if he had considered Job in his going to and fro on the earth.

We have a glimpse behind the scenes. The dialogue between God and satan revealed God’s protective hedge around Job’s life. Verse 11 says, “But now stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will  surely curse You to Your face!”

What was Job’s response when everything was touched? Verse 21 says, “…Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”

After all the intricate parts of Job’s trial were recorded for everyone to read, in strengthened faith he made this declaration. Job 42:2 says, “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You.”

All means everything without exception. Is that the conclusion you have come to through all the things the Lord has allowed in your life? Do you acknowledge that everything has come through His hands? Is your heart filled with gratitude, or do you wish they had never happened? They are all essential parts that God used to develop our character.