Driving home from work last night, I was thinking more about hardship, fear, faith, and God; how they all work together and whether fear is from God or from Satan. I was thinking about what I had said, that hardships and fear draw some to God, while others push God away and refuse to acknowledge him.
I honestly think that "bad" things don't come from God, and I honestly think that "bad" things are a test. They are Satan's way of getting us to turn from God. We may pass or fail the test, either way God still loves us and welcomes us.
The long and short of Job's story is that God allows Satan to test Job; to remove all the good in his life and leave him wanting death. Satan believes that Job will eventually curse God, which is what Satan wants. Throughout all of his trials, Job stands strong in his faith and never once curses God. He questions God and doesn't understand why these things are happening to him, he turns away from God (for a time), he curses himself but he never curses God as Satan was sure he would. At the end God restores his health and wealth, beyond what Job originally had. Because of his faith he is duly rewarded.
There are a couple of things in Job's story that stick-out to me. 1) The destruction of his future, his children; 2) Feeling as God has forgotten him; 3) Others believing you must have done something to deserve this fate, cursing yourself for some unknown transgression; 4) The end result being better than you could have imagined.
I don't think that Job felt that all the riches (land, family etc) he had lost, were replaced when God blessed him again. He must have still mourned for them, especially his family. Infertility is like that: We may yet be blessed, but it may not be in the way we think. If we are not blessed with families it is not because God desires to punish us, but because He believes in us and wants us to rely on Him, because He has something better in mind.
Prov 3:5-10
5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6 in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil.
2 comments:
Thank you for posting this.I have entertained feelings of being forgotten or punished by God. Deep down I know it's not true, especially when I think of all that He's blessed me with. So I just want to say thank you for a beautifully written post.
"The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom"
God Bless
Chris
I have a hard time understanding why God would do something to hurt someone. Things like infertility, death of a child, a young parent, etc. This post was beautifully written and I agree that we may be challenged, but God doesn't intend to hurt.
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