By F. D. Adkins
This past week, I have been thinking about the difficult patches in our lives and how, as Christians, we are not excluded from struggles or attacks from the devil. However, God is in control, so as children of God, we do not go through anything that God does not allow. Please take note that I did not say the suffering or hardship is from God, just that He is allowing it. So, my question to answer in this Bible study is ‘Why would God allow His children to go through a hardship or suffer?’
This question brought me to the Book of Job. As we know, Job was a man of great faith, feared God, and detested evil. Satan was sure that Job’s devotion to God was because of all the blessings God had bestowed upon him. Satan was sure if Job’s blessings were taken away that Job would curse God. In Job 1:11, Satan said, “But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face” (KJV). So, God allowed Satan to test Job.
Essentially, Satan took just about everything from Job, even his health. Job’s suffering was not from God but was allowed by God. Did God allow Job to suffer only to prove Satan wrong?
Here are a few key points that I noted:
- Job was an upright man who feared God.
- Even after Satan took away Job’s blessings, Job worshipped God.
- But… was Job without sin? Did he have areas in his life that could be improved? (Jesus was the only man to walk this earth without sin.)
When we get to chapter 31, Job still has not turned away from God, but he is questioning God as if what is happening to him is a punishment from God. In the first part of this chapter, Job details the many ways in which he is blameless, and then at the end of the chapter, Job voices, “Oh that one would hear me! behold, my desire is, that the Almighty would answer me, and that mine adversary had written a book” (Job 31:35 KJV). In verse 37, Job goes on to explain how he would argue his case before God “as a prince”. Job states, “I would declare unto him the number of my steps; as a prince would I go near unto him” (Job 31:37 KJV).
Then, in chapters 38 through 41, God speaks to Job. He begins by asking Job, “Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding” (Job 38:4 KJV). In these chapters, God conveys to Job that He is all-knowing and in control of all Creation. Nothing functions without Him.
Even though Job was devoted in his faith and lived a Godly life, this hardship in which he finally came to question God’s judgment brought him a response from God that allowed him to grow closer to God and develop a greater understanding of his Creator. At the beginning of chapter 42, Job humbled himself before God, confessing his lack of knowledge and repenting for questioning God’s judgment. Job says, “I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not…. I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes” (Job 42:3, 5-6 KJV).
Of course, Job’s afflictions were never a punishment. Job was living a God-fearing life following God’s commands. And just as Romans 8:28 tells us, “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose,” we learn the truth held within this verse at the end of the book of Job. Job 42:12 details, “So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning…” (KJV).
Let me return to the question at the beginning of this Bible study. ‘Why would God allow his children to go through a hardship or suffer?’ Obviously, bad choices (sin) carry consequences, and just as a loving parent corrects a child, God will lovingly correct His children. However, as we see in the account of Job, sin was not the cause of His suffering. As Christians, Satan wants to draw our attention off God and weaken our faith. This was the case in Job’s situation. But, we learn through Job’s testimony that God is all-powerful and in control of everything. The devil cannot touch us without God allowing it. So, again, I come back to ‘WHY’?
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Isaiah 55:8-9 KJV
God has a purpose in all that He does. Our brains may not comprehend this purpose because His ways are higher than our ways. Job did not understand his suffering, but in the end, his eyes were opened to a perspective of God that he had never absorbed before.
In my search for the answer to this ‘Why’ question, I believe the answer is found in the story of Job, Romans 8:29, and James 1:3-4.
Job gained a greater understanding of God. God is conforming us to “the image of His Son” (Romans 8:29 KJV). And as God works to make us more like Jesus, these tests of our faith “worketh patience” (James 1:3 KJV).
- “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” Romans 8:29 KJV
- “Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.” James 1:3-4 KJV
Life is often hard, and as the enemy’s time becomes shorter and shorter, his desperation grows greater and greater. I pray that we will lift each other and encourage each other through the trials and difficult times. I pray that as we endure these hardships, we can keep our eyes on the Father and seek His wisdom and guidance in becoming more like Christ.
“The Enemy Lurking in the Darkness”
A fiery situation
An act of desperation
He is aware that he has lost,
and Jesus has paid their cost.
But he can still get satisfaction,
if he can cause a distraction.
He spreads some heartache over here,
and over there, stirs up a bit of fear.
Because if he can get their eyes to look away,
he can stop them from sharing the love of God today.
