Job XXX

 It’s one thing to have a persecution buddy; it’s another to go through it alone. Paul had Silas as they sat in prison, their feet in stocks, singing hymns to God. Moses had Aaron and Joshua to lift up his hands when he grew weary and drew strength in the knowledge that they were there, but Job was alone, his life torn asunder, everything he’d build having come to ruin, yet he found the strength worship God.

Even when you have no one to lean on, you still have God, and God knows. God is not ignorant of our suffering, our testing, our hardship, or our persecution. He has not turned a blind eye, nor has He abandoned His children.

When the letter to the angel of the church of Smyrna was penned, Jesus made sure to encourage them by reminding them that He knew of their afflictions and poverty, as well as the slander brought against them. It’s easy to gloss over such passages and not understand the depth of the suffering they were going through. As far as Smyrna is concerned, at the time of the letter’s writing, those in power had instituted a law that if you reported someone within the city of being a Christian, all their belongings would be seized, and the person that turned them in would get ten percent of whatever had been confiscated as recompense.

Thousands of years later, the Communists instituted similar incentives, but ten percent seemed a bit much, so you’d get an extra bread ration or sugar ration for having informed on a neighbor, a friend, or a family member. The crimes of those being informed upon were that they were Christians, or followers of Christ, not that they’d murdered, stolen, cheated, or lied. It wasn’t so much ‘see something, say something’ but ‘suspect something, say something’ because you’d be rewarded for your betrayal.

All the enemy needs to despise you, hate you, and desire your destruction is that you serve Jesus. You could be all the other things the world deems offputting, you can commit the most heinous of crimes, and the devil will leave you alone, but if the desire of your heart is to humbly follow after Christ, know that you are in the bullseye, and the enemy of your soul is actively seeking your destruction.

Even though Satan’s second encounter with God is similar to the first, wherein he got permission to touch everything Job possessed but not lay a hand on his person, it is not identical. It started out much the same way, where the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them, God asking him where he was coming from, then asking if he’d considered Job, a blameless and upright man, but then a new wrinkle is added to the conversation.

After the whirlwind of destruction, after Satan did everything he could in attempting to shake Job’s faith, God pointed out that he still held fast to his integrity, although he’d incited God against him to destroy him without cause.

For those who insist that there is an underlying cause for everything that happens to us, I present to you exhibit A. They are God’s words, and so they must be taken with the requisite import, and God said that Satan had incited Him against Job to destroy him without cause. Sometimes, it’s hard to resist the urge to play judge and jury. We see someone going through a trial or struggling, and as we will see later, just as Job’s friends did, we assume they sinned or did something to bring the ire of God upon themselves. We can’t wrap our minds around the idea that sometimes there is no cause, but there is always a purpose.

Job’s troubles had no instigating cause. He had not sinned against God, he had not wandered from the truth, nor had he done anything to stir God’s wrath against him. His troubles, however, did have a purpose: to test his faithfulness and prove to Satan that Job served God from a pure heart, with pure intentions, and not because he’d been given wealth and prominence.

Romans 8:28, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.”

All means all, even if you can’t understand it or see how something you’re going through might work together for good. Do you love God? Are you called according to His purpose? Then rest in the knowledge that it will work together for good. Paul didn’t say they would work together for good in the material, but more often than not, that’s where our expectations gravitate toward.

In hindsight, it’s easy to see that our physical trials served to strengthen our spiritual man to heights we dared not imagine. It’s easy to look back on the seasons of hardship and determine that they taught us to lean on God, and run to Him, trust Him, and build up our faith more than anything else would have, but while we’re going through it, all we can do is cling to the hem of His garment.

As children of God, it’s perfectly acceptable to acknowledge that we do not know why we are going through what we’re going through sometimes, but we should take strength in the knowledge that God knows.

God’s not a politician. He doesn’t sign laws and decrees He has no clue about, and no intention of following up on. God cannot be bought; He doesn’t do anything without a purpose, nor does He allow His children to suffer needlessly. There is a purpose in my suffering, just as there is a purpose in your suffering, and God knows the purpose; it is clearly defined, and one day, we will look back upon it and realize that it was as the Word says: it worked together for good.

God didn’t need an assistant to whisper into His ear about the Job matter, nor did He arch His eyebrows and whisper, “Job who?” He was fully invested in Job’s life and knew that he’d held fast to His integrity and continued to be a faithful servant. God is no less invested in your life. If you are His, He knows you by name, and your faithfulness in times of plenty as well as in times of trial brings joy and gladness to His heart.   

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.