It Is What It Is

“Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?”  Job 1:9

There is a lot of truth to be learned in the book of Job.  A brief review of the story will be helpful.  Job was described as a man who was righteous and honored the LORD God.  He made burnt offerings for his children everyday just in case that they had sinned.  One day angels came before God to give an account of their activities to God, and Satan was among them.  (Satan is an angel, but an evil angel.)  God asked him from where had he come, and he answered that he had been roaming all over the earth, but we all know that he was up to no good!

God brought up the subject of a man named Job to him.  Why?  I have no idea.  Perhaps God wanted Satan to know that not everyone was deceived by him.  Satan asked, “Does Job fear You for nothing?  You have protected and blessed him throughout his life” (paraphrased).  Satan then dared God to remove His hand of protection from Job and then see just how faithful he would be.  God took Satan up on his dare and gave him permission to take away all that Job possessed, his children, his wealth, and all that he owned.  Satan did, but Job maintained his honor toward God.  Satan was then allowed to hurt Job physically by giving him sores all over his body.

Job’s friends came to console him, but then judged him by claiming that he must have done something to deserve all of this calamity.  Job insisted that he had been living righteously and couldn’t understand why he was suffering.  Then God spoke to Job, but didn’t really give him a reason for his troubles because God is sovereign and doesn’t answer to man.  God’s words to Job convinced him that there was an awful lot of things that he didn’t know, and Job admitted that there was much that he didn’t understand about God.  I think perhaps Job, like many of us, had taken God for granted, not understanding nor appreciating the majesty, holiness, and sovereignty of the LORD God of heaven and earth.

I used to think that Satan, after being cast from heaven (Isaiah 14:12), was basically trapped on earth, but apparently he is free to travel back and forth from earth to heaven.  Another fact presented in the book of Job is that Satan can’t do anything unless God allows him to.  We also learn from Job’s experience that many times we don’t get an explanation of why God does what He does.  Things happen on earth to believers, and they say that when they get to heaven, they will ask God why such and such happened.  However, I think the glories and splendor of heaven, seeing Christ face to face, and reuniting with loved ones will make us forget all about the hurts and sorrows that we experienced on earth.  We may not like being in the dark about certain situations, but it is what it is.  We just have to trust in God’s perfect will.  That is the only way to be at peace.