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Ring of Truth provides 366 daily ‘proofs’ that the Bible is consistent throughout from Genesis to Revelation, and relevant for our lives today!
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Job 2:6
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.”
God sets the boundaries.
I want to continue that subject today. Job was totally upright in God’s eyes. He must have been an incredible man, even unique, maybe.
There are two interesting things here:
Firstly, those who follow the ways of God prosper. The Christian lifestyle, by definition, must improve your circumstances and even an improvement in material wealth often follows.
Secondly, here was a man who didn’t get sidetracked by his riches. He knew where they came from and to whom they belonged.
Job was also a priest. In Chapter 1, we find he interceded for his children, in case they had done wrong during their parties. Here was a man of God and a true priestly father. Are you?
In Chapter 1, Satan tried to suggest that Job loved God because of what he got out of Him. So God allowed him to attack Job’s wealth and possessions. Satan should have learned a significant lesson. Not everyone is like him, with the same warped values. Satan lost a great battle.
Here in Chapter 2, God challenged Satan with the result. Typically, Satan, the father of lies, dismissed Job’s integrity, sulked and suggested that if Job was hurt physically, it would be a whole different story.
He still believed everyone thought like he did. He had also confused religion with relationship. To him, God was to be obeyed, whether you liked it or not. God was a harsh God who made selfish rules and regulations to satisfy His own egotistical needs.
How wrong Satan is. God is the giver of life. A good God who entrusts to us as much as we can handle without destroying ourselves. Unfortunately, instead of Satan learning through these experiences with Job, he became entrenched in his own deliberate, assured and irreversible downfall.
Job, on the other hand, remained a man of integrity, even when his wife, like Eve, struggled with the issues. Job was inflicted with the most embarrassing, incapacitating, painful and humiliating disease, and yet his view of God and His omnipotence and grace remained inviolate.
Then his friends arrived. I believe they were real friends. They came out of love, respect and sympathy. For 7 days they sat with Job on the ground and said nothing - but they were there. They hadn’t run off and hidden. They hadn’t ignored him or rejected him. They had come to support and encourage him the best way they could within their limited understanding.
Those who have experienced grief know that people who come and just sit quietly with them give tremendous help and strength. The problems usually arise once we open our mouths. We may think we understand but we don’t. We find just as Job’s friends found - our thoughts are not like God’s thoughts.
It is so much better to hug and be silent.
Listen, no matter what you are going through - don’t give up - look up. The only One who really knows what you are going through is Jesus. He is right there beside you to help you overcome.
Hold on to Him. He won’t let you be tempted/tested more than you are able to cope (see 1 Corinthians 10:13 - it’s a ‘Ring of Truth’).
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