Job’s Test – Part II

Friday, September 2

Job’s Test  – Part II    

Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.” Job 2:3

We are given the true story of Job’s character in the first verse of the book of Job, and so we know the injustice of their pronouncements. ‘In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil’ (Job 1:1). No one seemed to be on Jobs side. Eventually Job’s friends concluded it must be Job’s fault and they abuse him spiritually, despite Job’s defiance. In the end, Job stood his ground and remained firm in faith. Job understood that God had his back!

Although he was declared blameless, Job was not perfect, as only Jesus was without sin and perfect in His relationship to God the Father. When he had an encounter with God Himself, Job was full of repentance and realized he had believed wrong things about God. This was a test of Job’s faith. He humbled himself and asked for forgiveness. God accepted his repentance and allowed him to be of use for His kingdom once again. Job became a priest to his friends. He was given the privilege of ministering to them for the forgiveness of their sins. There was a way back to blessing on his life. He had come through a massive trial of his faith.

There is a lot to learn about life from the book of Job. Again, we are reminded that suffering is universal and if it has not already, it will affect everyone of us. Some turn towards God in times of suffering, while others turn away from Him. We are all encouraged to remain faithful and do not give up on God during the testing.