Understanding Job

A few stories in the Bible have confused me at various times in my life, but I've worked at understanding them, and it's made my faith stronger. Praying for understanding and the blessing of spiritually maturing has helped. One such story is Job's. Here was a righteous man, who was following God, and God allowed Satan to send all kinds of disasters and misery to test him. That didn't sound fair or just to me.

First of all, we shouldn't expect this fallen, sinful world to be fair or just. Oh, we should strive for that, as the Bible tells us, but because of people's sinful natures, we're not going to see justice always done until the day of judgment. We've all seen examples of bad things happening to good people. God never promised us otherwise, but He did promise to always be with us through anything. We can hold onto that promise when the going gets rough.

Some people see troubles as God's way of punishing us, but the story of Job shows us clearly that this isn't always the case. Job's problems were coming from Satan trying to make him sin and fall, not from anything Job had done wrong. Satan was hoping Job would lose patience and blame God in his times of trouble. Because Job's faith was so strong, his temptations had to be severe. Notice that God also limited Satan's temptations. He could not take Job's life, because it wasn't time for Job to die, and God planned to restore his life abundantly. 

God also used Job's rough time for good. Job was refined and made stronger through his ordeal. He came out a better man and more committed to his faith. If you look back at your life, it was in the hard times that you did your spiritual growing. As much as we wish it otherwise, suffering builds character. The furnaces in our lives have a tendency to burn away the unimportant and set our focus on the only One who really matters.

Job also came out healthier, wealthier, and with more children. His life became fuller and richer, not from these material blessings, but from his better understanding of God and His Word. In the end, Job's story is not one of troubles but one of triumph. Not only was Job greatly blessed, but so are we from understanding his story.

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