Job

There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. – Job 1:1

This morning my mind wandered to Job as I was sleeping.  I woke up with his experience on my mind.  First, Job was “blameless and upright and one who feared God and shunned evil.”  Job did what was right in the eyes of God and blame for doing intentional evil was not found in him.  From this description, we know that Job was wise since “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom”.  Another character trait is he purposely moved away from and distanced himself from evil.  

He would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” – Job 1:5

The last example of his character, prior to the attack upon him, is he thought about the possible sins of his family and he sacrificed offerings for his and all of them.  So Job sacrificed for others whether they had sinned or not.  Sound familiar?  Maybe like something God Himself would do.  Job was an incredible man and his traits are worth aspiring to obtain, especially since God valued them so much.

God had intentionally blessed and protected Job.  Satan confessed to God that God protects Job.  “Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.” (Job 1:10)  Satan had run into that protection before I bet.  For me, this is one of the most obvious and stated examples of God’s supreme and absolute power over Satan and all things.  And it comes in confession from Satan himself.

Once God loosened his protection over all physical things that were in Job’s life, with the exception of Job himself, Satan immediately destroyed it all at the same time.  Each surviving messenger came while the other one was still speaking.  All the servants, all his children, and all the positions he had were dead and gone.  The only exceptions were his health and his wife.  Grieving, Job worshipped God and remained blameless.

Satan then says this is only because he didn’t attack Job’s body, so God then allows Satan to attack his body, but not kill him.  Then, he is allowed to stay in this form for a time.  I think it is remaining in this depraved, broken condition for the time that was the most difficult.  Job reminds me of Jesus.  Jesus had no possessions and His body was broken, yet He said nothing.  But, Job also proves to me that even the best man is not God.  Job finally curses his birth, a God ordained event, and his life.  Jesus, being perfect, never wavered in His determination to do the will of His Father.

I don’t know why, but this morning I was awoken by the thoughts that Satan doesn’t seem to attack us like he did Job.  Job had all his positions and children taken in an afternoon.  Our attacks don't seem to come like that.  I think this may be because we aren't as strong as Job in our faith.  Or maybe it is because Satan has found better attack methods.  Today, our attack would be more like one of our kids would become a homosexual, one would become addicted to drugs, our spouse would suddenly decide to leave, and someone in our church would do something extremely offensive to us.  Then our retirement savings or home worth would turn in some economic event to be worth only a fraction of what we put into it essentially leaving us with nothing.  And each of these would happen in a slow and deliberate manner over a decade or decades.  These are the types of things I see people experiencing, but not realizing that their faith is being tested and they are under attack due to the slow and drawn out method to it, and that God is all they need to protect them and bless them.

I am most saddened by the fact that Satan knew enough about Job’s wife that he left her alive so she, who I assume was most close to him, would work on Satan’s behalf in the calamity that surrounded him.  This one aspect of the story breaks my heart the most.  We must pray, pray, pray, and then pray again for God’s hedge around us, our household, and around all that we have on every side.  We must pray for God to bless the work of our hands and to increase our possessions as He wills for His benefit alone.  I feel urgency this morning in my prayer and if I’m not careful it will lead to fear.  God help me to trust you and know that all that You allow, all that You permit, is done at Your will and is right in all of Your Creation.  As Job said,

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.” – Job 1:21