Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” – Job 1:8 NIV
Do Not Disappoint Him – 30072020
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The angels had gathered to present themselves to the lord according to the bible, and Satan was also present. Satan in response to God’s question on where he had been said he had been all over the earth going back and forth – Job 1:6-7. God’s reaction to this response by Satan is the text for today’s devotion. In that response, God points Job out to Satan. In doing that God makes the following testimonies about Job:
1. That there is no one like him (Job) on earth.
2. Job is blameless.
3. Job is upright.
4. Job fears God.
5. Job shuns evil.
What a wonderful testimony to be made about a man by the Almighty God. Were this to be a human testimony, it can be disregarded but this is the Almighty God testifying about the person of Job.
What is however curious is what was going on in the mind of the Almighty God when he pointed out Job to Satan. If a man was to do that, it would not be too difficult to classify such a person as an enemy but should God now be seen as an enemy by Job? Definitely not! Just as you will not be right in that decision to stop worshipping or deny God because of your present situation.
Like the opportunist that Satan is, he quickly makes light of these testimonies of God about Job attributing it all to;
1. The protection of God over Job, his family and all that he possesses and
2. The prosperity and peace of mind that God had bestowed on Job.
The debate must have continued with God probably defending Job further by denying the assertion of Satan and with Satan insisting and asking that the Almighty God lay His hands on all those goodies and watch Job deny Him easily – Job 1:11. God granted the request of Satan by allowed for Satan to strike Job (Job 1:12) and within a short period Job had lost not only children and property but his personal health – Job 1:12-19.
Christians need to realise at all times that like all human beings they remain a foot soldiers (pawns) in a supremacy battle (game of chess) between the Almighty God and Satan and they in particular are always going to be targets of Satan in this battle. One of the best ways to not let God down in this battle is to take ones mind off all those acquisitions that are earthly as they remain the only tool with which the devil can make us deny the Almighty God. Just like Job, it is good to possess them but we must realise that they can disappear with us not been able to do anything about it and it may not be for a reason related to our reduced Christian life. All we need to do regularly like Job was doing is to make sure that all these acquisitions will not be the reason for our separation from the Lord. The Bible records that Job was always offering sacrifices to avoid the consequences of sin which his children, in the course of their daily activities, may have committed – Job 1:4-5. He probably did not want the experience of Eli with his children, Hophni and Phinehas to happen to him.
He was later to realise that experiencing negatives in life is not always due to sin as God may decide to use the Christian to achieve a greater glory for Himself. In his lament, he painfully stated that what he had always tried to avert was what caught up with him – Job 3:25. He saw it as a test from the Lord with self assurance that he will come out as gold – Job 23:10.
You may be going through some hard times now but you need not worry if you can, after a honest self-assessment conclude that God can also testify about your relationship with him in the same manner He testified about His relationship with Job. It is then that you can remain conscious of the fact that you came into this world with nothing and you will go with nothing – Job 1:21. Then you will see all those acquisitions for what they truly are, temporary achievements and you will learn to focus more on heavenly and eternal matters. Then you will be on the path to making God proud and achieving victory in life. It is possible He took a wager on you and it will be very disappointing if He loses that wager because of your disloyalty to Him.
Job complained about his situation to God more out of frustration but never at any point denied God. He did make comments that you are also probably making in your situation right now but never stopped worshipping and giving glory to the most high as indeed God was eventually justified and glorified while Satan was put to shame. Do not disappoint the Lord in His boasting about your faith in Him. Allow God to shame Satan regarding that situation in your life and you would have earned for yourself a special place in God’s heart and in His kingdom. May God grant the required knowledge to overcome the travails of life in Jesus name. Amen.
