Job’s Test
Thursday, September 1
Job’s Test
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
The question “Why?” is always asked by people about suffering. Why God? Why me? Why my family? Why did this happen. Sometimes it seems worse to watch a loved one suffer and be helpless to do anything than to be the one who is suffering. Job’s friends came to see him as they heard he was going through a bad time. ‘Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No-one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was’ – Job 2:13. What these friends of Job failed to understand the concept written in Genesis 1 ‘and God said…and it was so’. You see, everything we step into in your life, is something that God spoke before you got here.
No one seemed to be on Job’s side. In his worst moments he struggled to have faith that God was on his side. He just wanted to die. He never knew, as we do, that he was under spiritual attack from Satan, only because God allowed it to happen. ‘Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,’ Job 3:20.
I am so glad that he was vindicated by God in the last chapter of the book. God spoke and deliverance belonged to Job once again. Suffering is universal and affects every one of us. But we are encouraged by the account of Job, knowing that God is on our side.
Prayer for today: Heavenly Father, thank You for the reminder. Help me to stay close to You when suffering comes and when I do not understand why evil is so prevalent. Help me to focus on Your Kingdom purposes in this world and to remember to give You thanks and praise for Your love, Your mercy, and for the answers to prayer in my life and the lives of others.