However, I wanted to share a few of the things I have learned from this story…
All my life, I have heard how Satan had asked God for permission to try Job… But in all reality, one of the first things I noticed when I started reading was that Satan did NOT ask for permission to try Job! When Satan presented himself before the Lord (chap. 1 v.6-7) and was asked where he came from, he simply stated that he had come from roaming the earth and going back and forth in it. The next verse (v.8) blew my mind! Now, I know I have read this before… but it really didn’t have the same meaning for me back then as it has in these last few weeks. The verse states that God asked 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." Wow!!! I was shocked when I read it… It never occurred to me that God basically put Job out there like bait to the sharks! The following verses go on to explain that Satan states that Jobs righteousness was only because God had protected him and if that was taken away that Job would curse God, and that was when the Lord permitted Satan to try Job. But the beginning of Job’s test was when the Lord drew Satan’s attention to him.
I really had to concentrate on and question why God would put Job out there like that! Had it been that Satan himself came to God and brought Job up to God’s attention, it would have been different cause Satan seeks to destroy… But God is love, he seeks to build up and bless His people… I know God knew that Satan would want to try Job if God thought so highly of him and noticed that he was an upright man who lived right and avoided evil. And that right there is the answer! God only put Job out there, because He KNEW Job’s heart and had noticed that there was something different in him. God felt confident in letting Satan know that He knew that this man would not turn away from Him, thus opening the doors for Job to be tested and proven. What an amazing insight!
Of course, at the time Job was living through this, he had no idea what was going on… His life went from all going well, living in prosperity and happiness to complete and instant devastation. He didn’t know what conversations took place between God and Satan prior to anything happening to him. He didn’t know what would come next, once he had come out of the trials that he had just experienced. All he knew was that he was hit with some very real and difficult situations in his life and he experienced a lot of heartache and pain. He suffered his losses, just like any other human being. In his own understanding he thought he was being punished for something, and struggled to understand what he was being punished for. In Chapter 2 the Bible states that he was in mourning and in chapter 3 he begins 35 chapters worth of whining and complaining about his circumstances… When I had heard as a child growing up in church, that Job had never cursed God, I thought that meant he never complained or suffered his losses. But he did, just that in all of his cries and suffering, Job never failed God.
In chapters 38-42, When God finally speaks to Job in regards to all of his cries, God humbles Job, making him recognize that his wisdom, understanding and power are nothing compared to Gods. Job recognized that God has control over everything and that he was foolish to question the circumstances he did not understand and he repented. Job never failed God by denying Him or turning away from Him. But nonetheless, Job had a lesson to learn, and having passed the test that was brought upon him, God returned to him the prosperity he knew before and blessed him twice as much as he was blessed before.
We know this story beginning to end, and we might be tempted to judge how foolish Job was to cry so much or to question God, when we know how it ends. The thing is that Job never knew that he would be blessed once again, nor that it would be twice as good as what it was before. All he knew was what he was living and feeling at the moment. He acted like any other human might have reacted to such circumstances. Job was real in his thoughts and feelings and did not hide that from God.
As I go through and have gone through so many things in my own life… I have taken my moments to cry and suffer, because I don’t know what God is doing or why He is allowing things to happen. Because I don’t know what he has planned for my future. All I know is what is in front of me today, the circumstances I have been through and how I feel about. But I have to stop and consider, why is God allowing this to happen? Perhaps God sees in me something that is different, and He knows that I will not turn away from Him? Perhaps He has allowed this time of trials in my life to help me recognize my weaknesses and for me to build greater confidence in Him and His provision for my life? Perhaps He has something greater than I can ever even begin to imagine in store for me? The question I now have for myself is… Do I want to cry for 35 chapters of my life? Or can I recognize that Gods ways are greater than my ways and His thoughts are higher than my thoughts? Can I be confident that He who began a good work in me will carry it to completion? Can I learn to be still in the midst of the raging storms and know that He is God and that He will not allow for the storm to drown me?
Its not easy when we live through difficult moments in life. We want to believe that God only brings good things. prosperity and happiness to our lives. We reject the idea that God may sometimes put us in situations that are less than perfect, where we will suffer and experience moments of fear, loss, pain and suffering. But God does allow these moments in our lives, and He may even possibly put us in positions where we will be tried, as He did with Job. It is in those moments that we recognize our own weaknesses and are able to see how small we really are in comparison to God Himself and His perfection in planning and ordaining every day and moment in our lives, in the world around us and in every detail of His great creation. Its in these moments that we recognize our need to repent for thinking higher of ourselves than we ought to and for thinking that we have any right to question God for our circumstances or dislikes in life. Its in these moments that we recognize our need to reaffirm our faith in Gods faithfulness to us and His provision for us and thus open, once again, the pathway for Gods blessings to pour upon us in greater measure than ever before.
If you are living faithful to God and yet find yourself facing difficulties and hardships, consider that God may be boasting about you in the heavens, proclaiming that He knows your heart, and trusts that you will not fail Him. Trust not on your own understandings, but continue to seek Him and live faithful to Him. He will bring your suffering to an end. He will comfort you once again and He will bless you for enduring the trial! God is faithful and His children will never be in need!
Be encouraged and God bless!
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