Job CLXXXV

 Being a son or daughter of God, not just in name but in deed, is the highest attainable ideal in the universe. It matters not how high you’ve climbed, how much you’ve squirreled away, how many people know your name or recognize your face, if you are not redeemed, blood-bought, and reconciled to God, it’s all for naught.

Tragically, there are many within Christendom today who insist that you should retake the baggage you laid at the foot of the cross, stack those chips on your shoulders until you have enough to build a cottage, and insist upon being seen, known, and perceived as something more, different, or other than a child of the Almighty. Whether it’s the lineage of one’s bloodline, their pedigree, upbringing, social standing, perceived influence, or self-assigned title, to focus on any of these things rather than being a saved and sanctified believer, knowing Jesus as your Lord and King, is both folly and vanity.

We are constantly bombarded with thoughts, feelings, emotions, feedback, criticisms, for the singular purpose of distracting us from walking humbly with our Lord and being about the work of the Kingdom. I’ve had numerous heart-to-heart conversations with pastors, evangelists, and elders, whose main complaint was that they felt unappreciated or that the work they were doing felt little more than spinning their wheels.

Those feelings then translated into their excitement and willingness to walk in the calling to which they’d been called, being dampened to the point that some were just going through the motions, not really engaged, or running their race in such a way as to obtain the prize.

In such instances, my question was always the same: are you doing what you’re doing for accolades or to be appreciated, or because it’s what God called you to do? Are you being obedient for the sake of obedience, or for something other than faithful service to God?

Throughout my years of ministry, I’ve been called aloof more times than I can count, because those passing judgment didn’t understand that I do what I do because God called me to do it, and for no other reason. It’s not to build something, grow something, or with the vested interest of seeing my name up in lights. It’s not about me, it never has been, and it never will be. Once we make it about ourselves, once we see ourselves as the commodity, as something indispensable, as something the Kingdom of God itself can’t do without, we’re operating from pride rather than obedience, and that’s a recipe for disaster.

Are you doing what God called you to do to the best of your ability? If so, then it matters not what people say, how they perceive you, or how they malign you. Don’t let it get under your skin. Don’t let the noise deter you from walking in obedience because that’s what the enemy wants.

The devil doesn’t care what tool he uses to detour you from the narrow path. If he can use pride and the praise of men, he will do so. If he can use temptation and greed, he will use those as well. If he can use discouragement and men’s barbed words, he will likewise have no qualms about employing them. It’s not about the means; it’s about the ends. Whatever means he can use that are at his disposal, he will do so without pity because his goal is all-consuming.

The devil has one purpose, and he is single-minded in it. He doesn’t have a job, he doesn’t have a mortgage, he doesn’t have hobbies, and he’s not looking for a significant other. The only thing on his mind all day, every day, is your destruction. He hates all of God’s creation, but not equally so. Those who pose no threat to him and his plans, those who have not learned to put on the whole armor of God and stand, those who are still playing games and have not fully submitted themselves to God, those who do not resist him and force him to flee, are still loathed and hated, but not nearly as much as those who know what it is to walk in the authority of the Almighty.

What started as an attempt to prove God wrong regarding Job’s uprightness turned into something more personal to the devil because his nature is to be petty and vindictive and attempt to hurt those clinging to hope just for the sake of doing it.

By this point, Satan likely knew Job would be a tougher nut to crack than he had previously thought, even allowing for the possibility that it wasn’t going to happen, but that did not deter him from continuing his onslaught. All he really needed was a crack, a moment of doubt, some intrusive thought that he could exploit and use to further his objective.

Depending on where we place our trust, suffering and trials can either shatter us or ennoble us. They can either break our will or exalt our faith upon seeing the plan of God at work, and feeling His comforting hand upon us as we journey through the valley. Job’s faith and full assurance were in the God he served. His faith rested in the sovereignty of the One who spoke the universe into being, and he saw no other way but to continue clinging to Him.

Job did not hope that his Redeemer lived. He knew that his Redeemer lived. The certainty of the presence of God gives us strength when we are weak and hope when we are at our lowest. With God on our side, all things are possible. Without Him, even the simplest of plans and most probable outcomes fall short and fall apart because all things are within His purview and control. Job knew this and refused to budge. He would not surrender his hope, no matter how much his friends insisted he should.

To abandon one’s hope is a choice. To cling to one’s hope is likewise a choice, and between the two, holding strong to the faith we have in God is by far the better one.        

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.