I’ve been reading the book of Job, and I’m reminded, again, of just how rough his life was. He was innocent in Satan’s game, just a pawn to make God look like a fool.
But God had the last laugh.
God knew Job’s heart. So confident was He that Job wouldn’t curse Him, God allowed Satan to basically wreck his life. The poor man lost his possessions and his children, his wife freaked out on him, his body erupted in painful boils from head to toe, and then, to top it all off, three of his so-called friends decided to comfort him by basically telling Job that it was his entire fault, that he obviously had some kind of secret sin God was punishing him for.
But through it all, Job stayed faithful to God. And yet, did you know he came dangerously close to losing it?
He did.
Around the 7th chapter of Job the man starts to doubt the value of living a blameless life. I mean, this guy put God first in every area of his life, and then, boom! It all falls apart. He truly did nothing to bring on his own destruction. He begins to feel sorry for himself, and here’s where he almost stumbles…in the midst of his pity party he comes dangerously close to saying that God doesn’t care about him and isn’t being fair.
Now, the happy news is that he doesn’t go quite that far, and God does rebuke him later for his whining, but in the end, God replaces everything he’s lost, even giving him more children.
There’s a lesson here.
Life isn’t always fair. Life isn’t always pleasant. Bad things happen to good people. Sometimes it’s my fault, but you know what, most of the time it’s not. It’s just life. And sometimes, it’s even a direct attack of Satan, trying to prove to God that I don’t really love Him.
Whatever it is, when life hands me lemons, it’s my responsibility to watch my attitude. If I let my pity party fester Satan will always exploit it to encourage me to forsake God.
Romans 8:28 tells us…”And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to His purpose.”
Do you know what that means?
It means that whatever happens to me, God’s got my back. He has a purpose and a plan for me. Why? Because He loves me.
Doubt is the opposite of faith. Doubting God is basically telling Him that He doesn’t care about me and isn’t being fair. Sound familiar?
So when I suffer, or face trials and setbacks in life, like Job, I have to be careful not to sin in my suffering.