Job 1:1
“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 1:8
“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’.”
The story of Job has always been a classic taught by pastors, teachers of the faith, and theologists across the world. It paints the dramatic story of a mere man and his relationship with Yahweh, his creator. It gives an account of a believer who has been blameless and upright before the Lord - the ways that we all strive to be. It is important to note, before we dive into today’s reading that this did not mean Job was sinless - but he was DEVOTED in his pursuit of God. This story demonstrates that Satan is in no way equal to God. Here’s a theological explanation I found that opened my eyes to the scene that takes place in heaven in chapter 1 when Satan approaches God: “We often — to his great delight — inflate Satan’s status and importance, thinking of him as the opposite of God, as if God were light and Satan were darkness; as if God were hot and Satan were cold. Satan wishes he was the opposite of God, but God wants us to know that Satan is a mere creature and is in no way the opposite of God. If Satan has an opposite, it is not God the Father or God the Son; it would be a high-ranking angelic being such as Michael.” (Tozer).
Just in case it was confusing to understand the HOW behind Satan having this conversation with the Lord, I hope the above helps and it may also help to note that Satan was one time, a beautiful angel who became fallen. The reality is that we love to give the enemy so much credit and status - but the enemy too - answers to God. Let that sink in! That’s a preaching for another day.
This text can speak to us on so many levels. There are so many lessons in the interactions between Job and his wife, Job and his friends, and Job and the Lord. Yet, out of all of the many things I have learned about Job - the one that hit me the hardest was that he wasn’t so much wrestling with the pain, suffering, loss, etc., he was wrestling with his theology. Job had to deal with the fact that in his life, God does not act the way he always thought God would and should act. Does this sound familiar?
The fascinating piece of this text is that God was the one who brought up Job as a topic of discussion during his interaction with Satan. God was so impressed by his child Job, the devotion that Job had for Him, and the pursuit he was on to be a man after God’s heart, that not only was God impressed by Job - He trusted that Job would never choose any other god before Him. Could He say the same for us?
We need to know that the enemy prowls like a roaring lion (1 Peter 5:8-10), specifically to devour us. Satan knows that when we give God our yes, all authority in heaven and on earth is given to us (Matthew 28) - and so we are a threat and we are a target - we are the ones who block out his dark schemes. The enemy is the accuser - and so, he did what he does best - he accused Job’s faith in God to be false. In verses 9-11, Satan taunts God and says Job would turn his back on Him in a second if he “strikes everything he has” - and so, God tells Satan, “Give him your best shot - but do not lay a finger on him physically. I know he wouldn’t turn his back on me.” even though this interaction may be difficult to understand fully, we STILL SEE that God gave the enemy conditions around how to attack Job. Why? Because at the end of it all, this was all for His glory. Back to Job: he had to learn that his theology around God was wrong. We do not serve the Lord for how we think He should act or what we think He should do FOR us. We serve Him because He is God. Point, blank, period. And YET, He is still good!
He was still good in moments of stolen innocence.
He was still good in the addiction.
He was still good in the struggle of promiscuity.
He was still good when giving in to sin.
He was still good in the moments of pain.
He was still good in the sickness.
He was still good in the poverty.
He was still good even when people tried to convince me He wasn’t.
He was still good when I had sex before marriage, and had to go through the fire to be refined.
He was still good when my heart was rotten, and I didn’t realize how unforgiveness caused so much bitterness.
He was still good when I was living in my version of the truth.
He was still good at the loss of friendships and relationships.
And YET, He was, and is still good.
Although I can honestly say that I wasn’t always like Job, blameless and upright, I know what it is to get up and choose to fight every single day like Job did to pursue the Lord through the taunts of the enemy. I know what it’s like to DESIRE to be devoted to the Lord - and have Him trust me. Even on the days when I would just groan in my suffering - Jesus was right there - creating a hedge of protection around me. And so, my encouragement to you today is this: do not desire the God who you want to control. Do not desire the God that does only what YOU want for your life. Desire the God who has so much better in store for you despite the storms of life than you could ever imagine. Desire the type of relationship with Him that your trust is so solid in Him that you can say like Job, “The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord (v. 21)”.
