Consider Me: The Job Experience

By Tanya Alexander

Have you ever wondered why bad things happen to such a good person like yourself. You think surely these horrendous things come from the devil, so you begin to rebuke him. Yet while it is likely true that it is the devil wreaking havoc in your life, what if he was only doing what God has given him permission to do? So now, do you rebuke God?

Consider Me: The Job Experience looks to the example of Job as a way to help you understand your trials and tribulations and seek God during these times. While it can be easy to curse him and turn your back on your relationship with him, author Tanya Alexander invites you to learn from Job and trust God and seek to understand his motive and perspective for allowing these things to be.

As the Lord our God goes to and fro searching the earth for a willing and worthy volunteer to show forth his glory, have you ever asked him to “consider me”? Like Job, we can experience the fear and the dread of experiencing great loss and difficulties in our lives, but by placing our trust in God, we can overcome and glorify God.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: May 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9781973654124

Tanya Alexander

Tanya Alexander was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Upon graduating from high school in 1985, Tanya joined the United States Marine Corps. While on active duty Tanya earned her Bachelor of Business Administration from Averett University, and in 2013 she earned her MBA from Averett University. In 2016 Tanya graduated from Central Michigan University with a graduate certificate in human resource management. Tanya is an ordained Deacon and Elder and the proud mother of three amazing sons; she also has one grandson.

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Copyright © 2019 Tanya Alexander.

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Scripture quotations marked (NIV) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.™ Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com The NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the United States Patent and Trademark Office by Biblica, Inc.™

Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Scripture marked (KJV) taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-5411-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5410-0 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-5412-4 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2019901876

WestBow Press rev. date: 5/31/2019

CONTENTS

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Why me

Chapter 3: Daddy Loves You

Chapter 4: In the Beginning

Chapter 5: Are you ready?

Chapter 6: Live

Chapter 7: No Leftovers, Just Overflow

Chapter 8: Yes, I Can, Cer (Sir)

Chapter 9: Released

Chapter 10: Accept what God allows

Chapter 11: Lord prepare me…

Chapter 12: Fire

Conclusion

References

DEDICATION

To my family. Thank you for your love and support. We have been through so much together and each experience has made us better. Second only to God, knowing that we have one another is what inspires me to move forward.

The end of a matter is better than its beginning, and patience is better than pride.

—Ecclesiastes 7:8 (NIV)

Loving and remembering you always, James M. Alexander, Sr. (father), Lillian C. Alexander (mother), Rev. Lillian Parker (grandmother), Dakota Alexander (sister), and Sidney R. Parker (stepfather).

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my sons, Frederick, Sidney, and Miles, my greatest heroes and source of inspiration. Thank you for believing in me and trusting me with your lives. You made being your mom one of the greatest joys and accomplishments I’ve ever experienced. I am so proud of you and the amazing young men you have become. I honor God that he allowed and chose me to be a part of the process in raising such loving, respectful, and incredible human beings. I look forward to seeing you achieve in your lives greater works than I have done in mine.

And to my beloved grandson, Grayson. You have encouraged and inspired me to share my story and my testimony with future generations. I pray you know you are surrounded by love and protected by God and such a great crowd of witnesses of what the Lord can do. Don’t ever forget the kings and queens from whence you come. Most importantly, don’t ever forget or turn away from the God who has and will continue to keep us through it all. I love you, my precious Prince.

Job 1:6–12 (NIV)

One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them.

The LORD said to Satan, Where have you come from?

Satan answered the LORD, From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.

Then the LORD said to Satan, Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.

Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied.

"Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."

The LORD said to Satan, Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.

Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD.

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION

IN THE BOOK of Job (1:7), God asked Satan where he was coming from, but He never asked what he was doing. Not only did God already know where Satan had been, but He also knew what Satan was doing and what he was looking for. God knew that Satan was looking for someone he could use to prove to the world that people loved their belongings, their family, relationships, fine homes, and riches more than they loved God. Satan was not looking for someone who would love him; but instead he was looking for someone who would join him in his hatred of God. For Satan it had nothing to do with his love for you, but it had everything to do with his hatred for God and all who choose to love honor and serve Him. That’s where you come in child of God. While it may come as a shock to you that someone in this world hates you for no apparent reason, likewise; there is someone in this world who loves you unconditionally. He loved you before you even knew who He was. And after getting to know Him and beginning a relationship with Him, there were still areas in your life you didn’t welcome Him into, but He loved you completely and wholeheartedly anyhow. His love for you is so extraordinary and pure that He sent His only begotten Son to die on the cross for you so that one day you can all be together in His kingdom as a family. But until that time comes, He’s made purpose, provision, and protection for you here on earth. His motive for loving you is pure and unconditional.

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

—John 10:10 (NLT)

I have experienced so many awesome testimonies and miracles in my life, and the Holy Spirit has always encouraged me to write them down as a keepsake to pass on to my children and my children’s children. Now He has released and commanded me to share them in the form of a book. I’m not a naturally transparent person. I’m ordinarily very quiet and private—an introvert, if you will. Writing this memoir is a loving tribute to the One who made it all possible. Even those in my most intimate inner circle don’t know half of what God has done for me. In obedience and love to God, I’m going to share a few of the marvelous works God has done for me in my life.

CHAPTER 2: WHY ME

HAVE YOU EVER asked yourself, Why me? I would venture to say that most of us have.

You consider yourself a good and fairly decent person, who usually doesn’t bother anyone. You keep to yourself and mind your own business. You take care of your family, go to work and school, and pay your bills on time (if not early). You take care of your home and go to church faithfully. Not only do you pay your tithes, but you even give an offering. And on occasion, you’ve been known to bless someone just because you can! You serve the Lord with gladness, and as far as you know, you live in peace with everyone you come in contact with. All those who know you—and even those you meet for the first time—tell you what a good and wonderful person you are. Does this sound like you or anyone you might know?

For you, every day is a good day to serve the Lord. Every step is a journey, every day is a holiday, and every meal is a feast. You take the initiative to have a blessed day even before anyone tells you to have one. Before you open your eyes in the morning, you tell the Lord, Thank you, and before you go to sleep at night, you thank the Lord for an awesome day. In fact, I dare say that even God Himself is proud to call you one of His own. You