Date: Friday, May 30, 2014
Today's Chapters: Job 1-4
Message Title: Rest For Your Soul

The Book of Job is the eighteenth book of the Old Testament/Bible and contains forty-two chapters. It is one of the oldest of the Bible books, the timeline is around the time of the Abrahamic Covenant, the events recorded cover a period within one year. The author of the book is unknown, but could have been Moses, Elihu, or Job and it was written around 1520 BC. This book was not written to a particular group, but to all people experience suffering for unexplained reasons. The purpose of the book is to explain the reasons by unexplained suffering. What we are to learn from the book is that God has reason behind all of the unanswered suffering we are faced with. “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” - Job 23:10.

Believe it or not, we are in the middle of a spiritual battle between God and the devil, who will win the battle remains up to us in how we choose to handle those afflictions. We get a little glimpse as to what the devil does and why God allows him to afflict us through Job. That old devil assumed that the only reason Job was faithful to God was because he was successful and rich, he was certain that Job would curse God and walk away from Him if he lost everything he had.

“Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them. And the LORD said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it. And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the LORD, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought? Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.” - Job 1:6-11.

God allowed Satan to afflict Job, and he was not subtle about it either, he literally lost everything he had, within a matter of minutes he lost his kids, servants, and livestock. We've heard it all before, “Everything happens for a reason.”, but as we are sitting there trying to contemplate a reason why God has allowed a certain thing to begin with, that's not much of a comfort. However, we must understand that God is not the reason behind the evil, and He really does use those bad situations to bring good out of them. “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.” - Romans 8:28.

The devil didn't stop there, when he saw that Job did not curse God he made another attempt, this time, to prove his integrity, he afflicted his health. “And the LORD said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the LORD, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.” - Job 2:3-7.

God did not allow the devil to take Job's life, but He did allow him to afflict him with an illness, and that's exactly what he did. However, Job did not curse God, instead he wondered why he was even born. “After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake, and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Why is light given to a man whose way is hid, and whom God hath hedged in? I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came.” - Job 3:1-4,23,26.

Job's reaction was like most people who live their lives with Christ in it, “I did everything that I was supposed to do, yet trouble still came.”. While we cannot understand why God will allow the devil to afflict us in such a horrible way, we can understand that God can bring comfort to us during these times. The truth is, God is not punishing us, He is merely looking for us to trust Him. God knows what is best for us and when we trust His judgment, He blesses us through our affliction, it may not be the blessings that we expect, but everything is a blessing from God. Even when a person passes away, it is a blessing because He is thinking about the person and how much they can handle. I've seen two strong willed people face the most difficult health problems die within days, once they were at peace with God and did not want to fight their battle any longer. Remember, it's not God who afflicts us, it's the devil, and while it's not always easy, we can find peace through our afflictions through Him. “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” - Matthew 11:28-30.

Today's Prayer: God, I admit that the first thing I think of when I am being afflicted is, “What have I done and how can I fix it?” It is those thoughts that hinder me from seeing the blessings in my life through my affliction. You already know what I am going through, I just need to trust You and let You take care of it as I do what I can in my ability. Lord, help me to walk in integrity and keep looking to You for help through my affliction instead of trying to fix the problem myself without Your guidance. I love You and pray in Jesus' name. Amen.

God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina

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