Job XVII

 Once the terms were delivered to Satan, he went out from the presence of the Lord. He wasted no time; he didn’t dawdle; he was on a mission and had been given the leeway to touch all that Job had, except for his person. If you thought there was even an ounce of empathy in our enemy, what happens next should dispel you of such an illusion. The devil takes no prisoners, nor is he interested in an armistice. The notion of a cease-fire is not in his vocabulary, and the sole purpose of his existence is to destroy those of the light, those of the way, and those who have humbled themselves in repentance and live out their faith. This is the essence of spiritual warfare, a battle that is not fought with physical weapons but with faith, prayer, and the Word of God.

Knowing that the enemy will never relent, no matter how many compromises one might make until the individual either overcomes or is utterly destroyed, makes any thought of ceding ground superfluous on our part. We don’t retreat, we don’t surrender, we don’t keep our heads down and our mouths shut because the enemy won’t take it any easier on us if we do. Those who choose to flee the battle and keep silent in the face of evil only serve to embolden it and are often used as a negative example that those of the world can point to and mock.

Why can’t you be like them? Why can’t you say that there are multiple ways to the same destination and that Jesus isn’t the only way? You may get on Oprah if you do! Because it’s a lie. It’s an invention, a fabrication, a well-crafted lie from the pit of hell, that’s why.

Why can’t you go along to get along? No one’s asking you to participate in the perversity and hedonism, but you should be nice and validate people’s feelings and choices. You’re likely to have a bigger ministry and a bigger audience if you do. You know the old saying, you draw more bees with honey than with vinegar, don’t you? Because sin kills, it’s a destructive, corrosive force that only has one destination if not repented of, that’s why. In addition, I’m not a beekeeper, and I’m not trying to draw bees. I am a man who was lost and now is found, and my mission is to point the way to Jesus and beseech others to submit themselves in repentance to His will.

You don’t play nice with the devil because he will never play nice with you. Our only choice is to fight with the last ounce of strength available to us, knowing that if we resist the devil, he will flee. It’s largely the reason so many prominent men and women get into trouble; they don’t resist the devil as they ought. They’ve come to believe that they can flatter the devil into leaving them alone or compromise their way to an accord of some kind, wherein the devil leaves them standing while assailing those around them. Just because he doesn’t see you as a threat doesn’t mean he won’t come for you eventually. All it means is that he’ll come for you last when there’s no one standing beside you, fighting alongside you and going on the offensive against his plans and purposes.

Cowardice is unbecoming of the King’s children. It’s offputting even to those of the world and should not be an option for the children of God.

It doesn’t take an overactive imagination to imagine the glee with which Satan went out from the presence of God. He’d gotten permission to do his worst save for touching Job himself, and he was about to go all out. There was no trial balloon, and there was no tentative probing of Job’s faithfulness; it was the hammer hitting the anvil, with Job standing between the two. The intent was to crush him utterly beyond any possibility of recovering, and Satan relished the prospect.

Job 1:13-19, “Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house; and a messenger came to Job and said, ‘The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them, when the Sabeans raided them and took them away – indeed they have killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ le he was still speaking another also came and said, ‘The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants, and consumed them; and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels and took them away, yes, and killed the servants with the edge of the sword; and I alone have escaped to tell you!’ While he was still speaking, another also came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, and suddenly a great wind came from across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell on the young people, and they are dead; and I alone have escaped to tell you!’”

One day. That’s all it took for Job’s entire life to be turned upside down. It wasn’t a slow bleed or something that happened over the course of years where he saw his savings dwindle or his investments decrease in value. In one day, everything he had was turned to dust and ash. Utter destruction, chaos, and attack after attack, wherein while one messenger was still speaking, another came with more cataclysmic news.

Job didn’t have time to recover or even process what he was hearing from the first messenger when another came, then another, because Satan’s plan was to go scorched earth and shatter Job’s resolve before he had a chance to think it through. Job was not privy to the conversation between God and Satan; he didn’t know why this was happening to him, and had it not been for his enduring faith and intimate knowledge of the God he served, it would have destroyed his constitution utterly.

It’s difficult to imagine both Job’s shattered heart and his resolve as messenger after messenger came with worse and worse news. For most of us, just one such event would be enough to leave us dazed and disoriented, but four messengers came to Job, and each report got progressively worse.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.