Job – Staying Faithful in the Hard Times
We’ve all had days when something bad happens. Being a Christian doesn’t mean we escape the pains and struggles of real life. We live in a broken world, and we see that brokenness all around us, so of course we are going to occasionally get caught in the cross winds. Sometimes, it’s something relatively small, like a leak in your AC unit a couple of weeks before a big family trip. But sometimes, it’s heavier, like the loss of a job or a loved one. And if you’re like me, when bad things happen, I tend to look deep at my life and see if I’ve done something worthy of God’s wrath. Was I getting too proud of my accomplishments and needed to be humbled? Am I trying to do too much on my own power instead of trusting God and His power? Was there uncovered sin in my life even I wasn’t aware of? If the event is big enough, like the loss of a loved one, it can even have you questioning God’s faithfulness and if this is all worth it. In times like this, I think of the story of Job.
Job Chapter 1 – Satan is Actively searching for people on Earth
“Job was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1). Job had 10 children, a ton of land, sheep, camels, oxen, donkeys, and servants. Job was faithful to God and even went as far as to purifying his own children and offering burnt offerings for them after they would have banquets in their homes just in case they had sinned. Because of his faithfulness and integrity, God saw Job and knew his heart. So when Satan presented himself before God in Job chapter 1, he informs God that he has come from “…roaming through the Earth” (Job 1:7). God asks Satan if he’s considered going after Job, but Satan has seen all the ways God has blessed Job and knows he is under God’s protection. Satan challenges God anyway. In verse 11, Satan believes that Job’s faithfulness is based upon the blessings he’s received from God, and if everything he owns and loves is taken away, Job would turn his back on God and “…surely curse You to Your face.”
Lesson # 1: Satan is actively searching for people on Earth. Often times, we look at God or we look at our own sin as a reason why bad things happen. But Job chapter 1 reminds us that sometimes, bad things happen because Satan is actively roaming the Earth, searching for people. God shows us the way to live our lives, but Satan likes to take things God gives us and turn them against us. From Eve in the Garden, to Jesus in the wilderness, to me when I got declined for a home loan month’s before my second child was born, Satan is constantly looking for ways to interfere with our faithfulness. But Faithfulness isn’t dependent on what we have, which was one of the assumptions Satan makes. Faithfulness comes from our relationship with and trust in God. God knew Job’s heart and knew he wouldn’t lose faith even in the hard times. So God tells Satan that he may now have power over everything Job owns, though he cannot take Job’s life.
Through the rest of chapter 1, through a series of events, Satan destroys all of Job’s livestock as well as the lives of Job’s children. Yet Job 1:22 tells us that, “Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for everything.” Convinced that he could still turn Job against God, Satan tests Job again by infecting him with boils from the sole of his foot to the top of his head. At this stage, even Job’s wife is starting to question Job. Job’s response in chapter 2, verse 10, is “Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” After this, Job’s three friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, travelled to vis with Job. Just looking at him was enough to cause these men to weep, tear their robes, and sit with him. For seven days and nights, they sat with Job without saying a word.
Job 3 through 37 – Hardship isn’t necessarily a result from our sinful actions.
Many people who study Job like to stop in chapter 2. Life was hard but his words are strong and deviant. However, that’s not where Job’s story ends. The boils are rough. Job is confused, sad, frustrated, and in pain. The next batch of chapters in Job follow the conversations back and forth between Job and his friends, as well as Elihu, the son of Barachel. Job speaks about cursing the day he was born and wishes that God would take him out of his misery. His friends answer and talk about how the innocent are spared but those who seek evil perish by it. “Consider: who has perished when he was innocent? Where have the honest been destroyed? In my experience, those who plow injustice and those who sow trouble reap the same” (Job 4: 7-8). Job and his friends go back and forth, speech after speech. Job’s friends assume his sin caused his pain. They even believe that the fates of his children must have been a result of their sin. But sometimes, hardship isn’t because we’ve done something wrong. There are times and experiences in our lives that we may not understand in the moment. But God does. God is constantly working and grinding away at our character. So sometimes, the hard things we go through are meant to make us stronger for something else later on. In the story of Ruth, Naomi goes through tremendous hardship, but it was all necessary and part of God’s plan with Ruth. The same things happen to us, as well. Sometimes, the hardship we go through is realized later in life, after God has used that situation for his purpose. Sometimes, we may never fully understand. But Job teaches us that not everything bad is a direct result of our sin.
A redeemer in Heaven is coming.
Job knows that if he stays faithful, he will be rewarded. “But I know my living Redeemer, and He will stand on the dust at last.” (Job 19:25). In all things, even when he questions it, Job knows that he has remained faithful. And in that faith, he will be redeemed. Additionally, the Greek Septuagint included an extra text appended to Job 42:17 regarding what happens to Job after death, reading, “…And it is written that he will rise again with those whom the Lord raises up.” No matter what we are going through in life, no matter how hard things are, we can hold fast to the truth that we also have a redeemer in Jesus. The hardships of this Earth will be nothing when it comes to the treasures we have waiting for us in Heaven.
Through it all, God knew Job’s heart and knew that he would remain faithful.
Reading through Job’s speeches, I am reminded of King David. David pleaded, sang praise, and resolved his life to God’s will as seen throughout the book of Psalms. “Lord, how long will You forget me? Forever? How long will You hide your face from me?” (Psalm 13:1). “But I have trusted in Your faithful love; my heart will rejoice in Your deliverance.” (Psalm 13:5). Speak to God directly and boldly. Job didn’t want to hear the false accusations of his friends. He wanted to talk directly to God. (Job 13:1-4) God’s word alone should define our path. Stand firm in your faith. Job asks God to speak to him time and time again. Just like he did with Job, God answers us. In Job chapters 38 through 42, God directly speaks to Job and his friends. “Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind.” (Job 38:1) No one knows us like God knows us…not even ourselves. When Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar and Elihu assume everything that happened to Job was because of his and his children’s sin, Job made the correct choice to wait for God instead. That serves as a good reminder for our own lives. It’s important to have Godly people in your life to speak Christ into you when things are hard, but always use the Bible and God’s word as the measuring stick. Be mindful of advice or criticism that isn’t Biblically sound.
Remind yourself of God’s Power and Righteousness.
God reminds us that he is the one with the power to create everything and he alone is the judge. “Where were you when I established the earth?” (Job 38:4) God says who are you to question me? Throughout his speech to Job, God never feels the need to justify himself or his actions. We never see God explaining or justifying to Job about how Satan approached him or why the things that happened to him happened. He doesn’t need to. No one other than God knows why we suffer or go through a specific hardship. Job’s friends assume it’s because of sin. Even Job is confused and doesn’t know why he suffered. In the end, we don’t need to know the why. We just need to trust that He will see us through it. What Job does know is that he loves, trusts, and will always obey God. When Job humbled himself before God, God restored him and rebuked his friends. And for his faithfulness, Job’s reward was twice what he originally had. “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his prosperity and doubled his previous possessions.” (Job 42:10).
If you are going through a hard stretch, and Job speaks to you, then hear the lessons he gives us. Pray hard. Hold strong to your faith. God is living and actively working in our lives, even if we don’t always see it in the moment. God always has a plan for our us. His plan, which we see through Jesus, is to restore and redeem his people. We just need to trust Him and remain faithful that He will see it through to completion.