We Ask "Why?"

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.” (Job 1:8)

This past Sunday evening I taught on the book of Job. Several thought come to mind as a person begins to read the book of Job. One question that I have been struck by time and time again; "What would come from a conversation between God and Satan concerning me?" Of Job God called him a servant, a blameless man, an upright man, a man who fears God and shuns evil, and said that there is no one like him in all the earth. 

If you have read the account of Job you know that this blameless, upright, God-fearing man was tested and tried - he lost his wealth, his home, his family, and his health. Yet, through all of this - even when his friends and his wife encouraged him to - Job did not lose his faith in God. 

There is an important thing to remember as we read the account of Job, we are privy to a conversation between God and Satan that Job never was. We see the details and hear the reasoning behind the suffering that perhaps Job never did. Perhaps Job felt as though God was cursing him and surely he felt as though the lot that life was giving him and the lot that God was allowing him to handle was not fair. Yet, he did not curse God and he did not lose his faith in Him. 

Looking at Job, watching him suffer and wrestle with the reality of his situation we find that it was because Job was "blameless and upright" and because he was "a man that fears God and shuns evil", this is why God chose Job to be the one to suffer - the one to face these cruel tests and unfair trials. 

Weekly I sit and hear of cruel tests that people are undergoing, horrible suffering that is going on, unfair trials that are being faced, burdens that seem almost unbearable. Daily we cry out to God, humbly bowing before His Almighty throne and boldly asking the question; "WHY?" And as we ask the question we are confronted with the truth; God is God and we are not. 

I know that you can do all things no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand. things too wonderful for me to know. “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. (Job 42:2-5)

A Blessing for Job

If you have been around the church for any period of time, or even if you haven't, you have probably heard the story of Job from the Old Testament. Job is the guy that in the period of a couple of days lost his oxen, his camels, his donkeys, his sheep, his servants, his daughters, his sons, and finally his health. This was a successive pattern, happening one after the other, through Satan, as God gave him permission to do so.

As we consider this account we often look at Job and think of the poor guy. Sometimes we might ask the question of how God would allow something so horrible to happen to a guy that was blameless. But, then, that is the point. Isn't it?

Job 1:8 reads; "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.” 

It was because Job was blameless and upright, because he feared God and shunned evil that he was the target of these tests and the persecution that came at the hand of Satan. Not only that, it was because of his faith and the life that he lived that God pointed him out to Satan and encouraged him to examine him, to evaluate his life, and even allowed Satan to put him to the ultimate test. It was because of Job's strong faith that he was able to withstand the ploys of Satan and to combat the words of his closest friends and his wife and did not curse the God that gives and takes away.

When we consider all of this, we realize that this entire episode of testing and persecution from Satan, by the permission  of God, was the greatest compliment that could have ever been given.  When we consider Job 1:8 perhaps we should ask ourselves; What would God say if He were having a discussion with Satan about you and your life? Would God feel confident to send Satan your way and encourage him to examine you, to evaluate your life? Would God feel confident that you would stand strong in your faith if you were to lose all that you hold dear, if all that God has given to you were taken away?