Even Good Folks Suffer
“But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse Thee to Thy face”. Job 1:11
Job is probably one of the best-known of Biblical names in the world likely because of his suffering. Every human suffers at one time or another in some way or another. I have never known anyone whose life was perfect and carefree. I have often said that no one gets through life unscathed. Some definitely deal with some of the worse things that can happen to people while others also suffer but to a lesser extent. It is only by the grace of God that we are able to overcome trials, burdens, problems, and heartaches. There are some, though, who do not know the Lord and who try to handle the hardships of life on their own, but sometimes that leads to a tragic end. Job did come through his trial and learned a valuable lesson taught by God Himself.
Job was a good man; God said so. He was concerned with always doing the right thing, staying away from evil, and having a reverential fear of God. He worshiped the God of heaven and earth for who He is, the sovereign, righteous, and holy Creator of man and of the universe. One day Satan came before the LORD, and the LORD asked Satan where he had been. Satan replied that he had been traveling over the earth, and we assume that he was looking for some godly people that he could bring accusations against to attempt to prove that some of God’s people were not all that righteous. Since God, who is omniscient, knew what Satan was up to, He gave him a name of one of His believers, Job, who had a stellar reputation and an excellent character, asking if Satan had considered Job. Satan, in his snarky, smug, and self-righteous response claimed that if Job lost all he had, then he would turn against God. After hearing Satan’s request, He took Satan up on his challenge.
The LORD gave Satan permission to test Job by bringing multiple tragedies into his life and gave Satan the power to do it. (Satan only has as much power as God allows). Several events occurred, one right after the other, causing Job to lose his ten children and all of his livestock. What did Job do? He did not, like some folks, blame God for his troubles, but rather fell to the ground and worshiped the LORD, saying “…the LORD gave and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” Satan wasn’t satisfied because his prediction did not come true. He came before God again and challenged God to let him afflict Job physically. God agreed and allowed Satan to touch Job with painful boils all over his body, but he was not allowed to take Job’s life. Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. However, Job told her that she was speaking as one who is foolish. It seems like Job’s wife did not have the same close relationship with God that Job did. He asked, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? Job did not follow her advice.
I began to think about my own life. In no way could I compare myself to Job other than I, too, have experienced tragedies, not on the level as Job, but nevertheless, very traumatic to me. And then I thought, did God allow these tragedies to occur in my life to test me like He allowed Satan to test Job? I really don’t have an answer for that. However, since Job was tested like that, does God still test people in that fashion? Most folks believe that everything happens for a reason, that nothing is really left to chance. But many others make the remark that so and so was “lucky” because he or she “dodged a bullet”, that is, they escaped some type of event which would have been harmful to them. However, when something unpleasant, harmful, or even tragic occurs to a person, people will blame it on bad luck. Some even go so far as to fear a black cat crossing their path or fear stepping on a sidewalk crack because it will break their grandmother’s back. These superstitions have been around for a long time.
I don’t believe in “luck”, good or bad. I believe in the providence of God, that is, the fulfilling of His purpose in creation and His benevolent guidance over His creation. I look at it this way: suppose a man or woman prays and prays for some type of relief or solution to a very worrisome situation, and God answers that prayer in a most miraculous fashion, and the man or woman attributes the positive outcome to luck? What an insult to God.
Nothing happens that God doesn’t know about. He has a reason for everything that He does, and we aren’t privy to His reasoning. Our task is to trust Him. Whether the things that happened to me was a test or not, I hope and pray that I will always be the kind of Christ follower that would exhibit faith, trust, and belief in a God who never makes mistakes, is never late, and who always has my back.