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?
