JOB, THE FATHER OF TROUBLE

In the quiet pages of the book of Job, the scripture reminds us that Job had a devotion to God, and in spite of all his pain and suffering he was determined to stay true to what he believed, that God was "Just", no matter the situation, and he knew in his heart that God always had His children’s best interest in mind. He was already a man that bared much spiritual fruit before his calamites came upon him. Which puts me in mind of a scripture found in the New Testaments that says, “Every branch that bears fruit, He (the Father) prunes it, that it may bear more fruit” John 15:2. God prunes the righteous (His children) by removing anything unproductive in our lives that is not bearing or reflecting Him and His character. Job’s life before his great calamity was a life worthy to be emulated and his life during and after his calamity was one of great example to follow as well.

The example that we should follow is to realize that when we don’t understand God, He can still be trusted. You see the devil caused Job’s troubles. But Job did not realize until later on, that it was the devil. He struggled with trying to understand why he was suffering. According to Job 19:1-12, at first Job thought that God was causing him to suffer, but in fact God did not. He only allowed his suffering and friend, there is a difference. He also pondered the fact that he believed that God may be a little unfair, because it appeared that God seemed to ignore some of the wrongs of the unjust  in Job 24. But those thoughts were about to be corrected in the latter chapters of this great story. Job had a few friends who thought the same thing and tried to advise him, but they gave him wrong advice. You see they did not think that God would allow an innocent person to suffer. So they thought that Job was guilty of something. While Job admits that he was a transgressor in Job 31:33, he did argue with them that he had done nothing wrong at that point to bring on his current calamity in Job 31. He still struggled within himself and with God in trying to figure out why the suffering was allowed. Now Job had another friend called Elihu who was much wiser than his other friends and listened to Job as he proclaimed, his innocence. Then he rebuked Job in chapter 32. While Elihu told Job not to accuse God, he was angry with the other friends for being so cruel to Job.

While Job never cursed God, he did struggle with God over some issues about his situation. Reading these verses reminded me of the times that I have wrestle with God over my own problems. Sometimes I know without a doubt why trouble has come my way. I do my best to repent of any actions that may have brought them on and move forward with a better understanding of how God prunes off the unfruitful and unprofitable things in my life. But sometimes, I do like Job and question God’s decisions, in why He allows certain things or does things the way He does; because sometimes it does seem to me, like the innocent suffer while the guilty get away with wrongdoing. But as Elihu reminded Job and his friends, God has a reason for everything that He allows, and if we know Him and trust Him, we are to counter our doubt and lack of misunderstandings with that faith.

The only purpose that satan had in bringing about Jobs’ conflicts, was in hopes that Job would curse and dishonor God because of his pain and suffering. And while Job struggled with trying to understand it all, he never cursed God according to Job 1:22. God himself tells us to come and reason with Him. He understands that we have questions. But we are never to doubt His reasons by thinking that He is unfair for what He does or allows. Understanding our situation will only become clear to us when, we surrender any frustration, bitterness, anger or self-opinion. I ended my scripture reading with this verse, Job 42:10,  "And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends". That has deep meaning that is often times overlooked. Job prayed for the very ones that judged him and gave him wrong council, then God restored his loss, after he prayed for his friends and gave him twice as much as he had before.

According to John 15:9-13, that is exactly what Jesus is telling us. Jesus was saying to remain in love so that our joy may be complete. You see this is a prime example of how satan wants to do us harm by what he sends our way, yet if we respond as Job did in the right way, God will turn it around and use it for our good, to prune off the bad in us, so that the good fruit will surface and confirm to us a sure future. If you will simply respond as did Job in your situation knowing that God wants to use this bad thing for your good, you will more than likely endure with the right attitude and satan will slither away like the humiliated snake that he is; knowing that he failed again, just like he did with Job, and just like he did with Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, headed to the cross. satan defeated once again! You see victory was won for Jesus in the garden when His final answer was, ”Not my will Father, but thine”. For Job it was Job 1:20-22 as he fell to the ground humble and broken in surrender and praise. It’s all about coming to the end of ourselves and choosing faith to get you through. Let us learn from Job, the father of trouble!

Loving on you today,

Bren