Job XXVII

 Job 2:1, “Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord. And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and from on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”’

Since we get the privilege of glimpsing what is going on behind the curtain, so to speak, it’s easy to forget that Job himself was wholly unaware of any of it. Job did not know that God had singled him out as blameless and upright. He did not know that Satan had asked to sift him, nor was he aware that God had allowed for all Job possessed to be done with as Satan saw fit. His physical person was off limits up to this point, but as far as everything else in Job’s life, it was up for grabs.

It would have been much easier on Job had he known everything that had gone on between God and Satan. Had he known, however, his story would likely not have resonated the way it does. If this life is a journey and the only purpose is to get from here to there, then whatever we must contend with in order to hear ‘well done, good and faithful servant,’ we do so gladly, knowing the reward that awaits.

Satan’s first instinct was to bum rush Job, to overwhelm him, to stack calamity upon calamity until he broke and either sinned against God by finding fault with Him or cursing Him outright. Satan’s gambit was the presupposition that Job served God because God blessed him. His entire attack was predicated upon that singular assumption, and had his premise been correct, Job likely would have relented.

Contrary to popular modern-day opinion, we do not serve God because of what He can give us in the way of material things. We do not worship Him because we’re hoping for a windfall or an injection of cash but because He is God, He is worthy, and He is the prize. He is the treasure we seek, the pearl of great price that, once discovered, we forfeit all else in pursuit of.

God is what holds value, not the things He can give us. It is a worthwhile distinction with which we must familiarize ourselves, lest we be tempted to trade Him for the baubles and trinkets of this earth.

In the gospel, according to Matthew, Jesus spoke two concurrent parables, one about a treasure in a field, the other about a pearl of great price. In both instances, the men who found them sold all they had in order to obtain either the field in which the treasure was buried or the pearl because they understood the inherent value of what they had discovered and rightly concluded they were worth everything.

The one thing Satan hadn’t considered was that Job had found his treasure. He had found his pearl of great price, and having God was worth more to him than anything in the world. Only in testing do we discover the value we place on God and our relationship with Him. Men are good at lip service; they’re quick to declare they worship God or insist that they would gladly die a martyr’s death for the sake of Christ until they’re put to the test. That’s when you know what someone is made of, how deep their convictions and commitment run, and not when all is going well, the sea is calm, and there’s no storm cloud in the sky.

One’s faithfulness must be established before the storm. It cannot be established during the storm. Job had spent a lifetime serving God, knowing God, and walking with God before his day of testing came, and it was the foundation of faith he’d built throughout his life that allowed him to weather the maelstrom he found himself in.

Sensitive as the question might be, it is nevertheless worth pondering: Do we spend more time wondering what tomorrow will bring, how the events of the last days will play out, or in establishing a sure foundation of faith and making sure that we have built our spiritual house upon the rock?

The knowledge of what is to come will not keep you from being overwhelmed by it. Building up our most holy faith and ensuring that we are walking in God’s will will. It’s the difference between looking out on the horizon, seeing the storm approaching, and going back to playing Scrabble, and seeing the storm, boarding up your house, laying out sandbags, and doing what you know you need to do to mitigate the storm's effects. Granted, some storms are so violent that nothing one does in the physical will make any difference, but in the spiritual, learning to walk in faith and trust God is never a wasted effort. Faith in the goodness, providence, protection, and sovereignty of God will always pay dividends. It’s a given, a certainty, and not just a probability.

Whether Satan presented himself before God the second go-round grudgingly will ever remain a mystery, but given that Job remained faithful even after all he’d done in trying to shake him, it’s likely he was not enthused by the prospect of having to eat his own words and acknowledge failure. Being defined by his pride and arrogance, having to admit he’d misjudged Job would have been a hard pill to swallow, and so rather than admit defeat, he proceeds to double down. The devil doesn’t give up easily. If you’ve resisted him once, be certain he will try again because it’s his nature, and he can’t help it.

If resisting him worked the first time, however, it will work the second and the third. Once something is proven effective, there is no reason to try and find an alternative. This is why an axe has been an axe ever since the axe was invented: because it works. So does resisting the devil. Don’t try to needlessly complicate something that works simply, when simply applied.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.