Do You Always Have Unshakable Faith Like Job? What can my worst nightmare teach you?

I went to work on Wednesday, August 2, like I do any other day. I arrive home at 5:00 p.m., after a long, hard day. My son, Luke, calls, and we talk for a while. He says he loves me, and I tell him I love him too. Then we hang up.

I am in the bathroom an hour later when he comes into the house, and I hear him go up to his room. He comes back down, speaks to his cat, and then leaves. I didn’t even have enough time to make it out of the bathroom, say hello, and hug him; he left that quickly. Usually, I can catch him, hug him, and ask what time he will be home, but not this time.

My husband, Mike, and I watch television for a while and then go to bed. We are sound asleep when the doorbell rings. To my astonishment, I see two police officers and another nicely dressed man holding what appears to be a laptop that is glowing under the night sky.

A parent’s worst nightmare.

The three men enter our kitchen, and I excuse myself to get my housecoat. When I return to the brightly-lit kitchen, I notice Mike is sitting. They tell me to take a seat. After confirming my name, one of the men says, “We are sorry to inform you that your son, Luke, was shot and killed this evening in East Conemaugh.” A parent’s worst nightmare had come true; Luke was gone in an instant!

I am in complete shock and am glad that I am sitting. With a shaky voice, I ask, “Are you sure it’s Luke?” The man, who I now know is the coroner, says: “He was with two of his friends, and they identified him.”

The police tell me they have the shooter in custody. They are charging him with criminal homicide and robbery because he took my son’s backpack. I ask the coroner if Luke felt any pain. He says, “He was shot at point-blank range in the head and died instantly, so, no, he did not feel anything. The men leave.

I wish I were dreaming.

Mike doesn’t know what to say to me. Luke is his stepson. He holds me, and we cry in each other’s arms. I can’t stop shaking, and I’m crying so hard I can’t talk. I want to go back to bed, and when I wake up, this will all be a dream.

Job’s story.

I feel like Job, in the Old Testament in the Bible: Job was a good man and truly blessed by God. The devil notices Job and tells God that Job is only good because God has blessed him. The devil tells God that if God allows him to test Job, Job will curse God. God allows the tests but forbids the devil from taking Job’s life in the process.

In one day, the devil takes from Job all of his children, livestock, and most of his servants. When he heard all he had lost, Job tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he worshipped God.

Job said that naked he came into the world and naked he would leave it. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes. May the name of the Lord be praised. He NEVER lost his faith in God. Job never sinned with everything that the devil took from him that day.

On another day, the devil afflicted Job with painful sores all over his body, and when his wife saw him, she told him to curse God and die. But Job asks her if it was right that he should accept good from God and not bad. In all this, Job still did not sin.

Job curses the day he was born.

When Job’s friends heard about his troubles, they came to comfort him, but they could hardly recognize him from a distance. They wept with him for seven days because they saw how great his suffering was. Then Job cursed the day he was born and asked God to take his life. Job’s faith in God was beginning to fail.

Next, Job started questioning God’s justice, and in the end, God rebuked him. But God had mercy on Job, and through his grace, God blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the former.

My reaction.

I pray that I can be as strong as Job because I feel similar to him now. While I didn’t lose everything, I felt like I did because my son was the most important person in my life. I feel like the world is caving in around me, but peace in God depends on how we view God. It doesn’t depend on our circumstances.

Since God gave me his grace and forgave me for all my sins, I immediately forgave my son’s killer for murdering my only child, Luke. I want to be perfectly clear. It was God who gave me the strength to do this. I could never have done this on my own.

I pray to God and ask Him to show me His purpose and plan. He has a purpose because He allowed this to happen. He is in control of everything, and I need to trust him unconditionally!

I must always have faith and allow Him to give me His peace, which surpasses all understanding. I am sure He will give it to me. Whatever He tells me to do next, I will do it. It’s not my choice to question whatever He tells me to do. I will wonder why He allowed it, but I will trust Him completely.

God is speaking to me and wants me to trust where He will lead me. I trust God in everything and know He will accomplish His purpose. It says in Isaiah 55: 8-9 that God’s thoughts are not our thoughts, nor are our ways His ways. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are His ways higher than our ways and His thoughts than our thoughts.

What more can I say to that other than, “Thy will be done!”

I post a message on Facebook for the few friends of Luke who know me.

I tell them to share the post so we can get the word out. It said: “R.I.P. Luke J. Yuzwa, my only child by blood. I was very blessed to have him in my life for the nineteen years that God loaned him to me. Now he is back with his Creator and at peace. He has no more pain, sorrows, or worries. Although I will miss him, others are now holding him in their arms for a joyful reunion. Thank you, Father, for giving Luke to me. He’s Yours, God, not mine. You loved him before I knew him, and he belongs to You. Be with him now that I can’t. Amen!!! Luke, Kayley (Luke’s cat), and I will see you again one day.”

I am glad I wasn’t there when my son got shot because things may have turned out differently. I do not doubt that if I had been there and someone had shot my son in front of me, I would have attacked the shooter and tried to retrieve the gun. But, in the end, that probably meant I would’ve died too.

Do You Always Have Unshakable Faith Like Job?

My faith is unshakable because I believe in Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” I am unsure how God will get me through this, but I know I have faith that he will.

In the days that follow, God gives me enough strength to continue trusting him. My pastor, friends, and I all pray for the killer. God gives me endless faith. It’s a strength that I have never felt before.

I give my son’s eulogy and share my victim’s impact statement with Luke’s killer. My message is about God’s love and forgiveness. No one except our loving heavenly father could have given me the strength to do this. I have never felt stronger in my life than I do right now.

I know I will see my son again. He will be waiting for me with open arms to welcome me into heaven when my time comes. But, until that day, I will share my story and do my part to help others struggling with loss and lack of faith.

Faith, like Job, requires blindly trusting God.

Only God knows the ending. We must follow his lead and know that we will be blessed more than we were before if we keep our faith.

What did Job do when he lost everything?

He worshipped God, and God rewarded Job for his faithfulness by giving him more than he allowed the devil to take away.

After a murderer violently ripped my son from my world, what did I do?

I went to church several times in the following days and worshipped God. Did God give me more than I had before? Yes! He gave me all of Luke’s friends to support and comfort me. They are my adopted children.

Any time God allows something to happen, we must trust that it will work out for our good.

What do you need to trust God with today? Can you surrender that problem to God and trust as Job and I did?