Lessons from Job

As I mentioned yesterday, I was told there were 3 types of sickness mentioned in the Bible. Yesterday's blog addressed the first two, "...to the glory of God," and "...unto death." The third is the "sickness for chastisement." This phrase doesn't actually appear in scripture, but was more of a concept that seemed to fit in the lesson that was shared at that the time. Still, it got me looking. And I wound up in Job.

According to the book of Job, Satan went to God and asked permission to afflict Job. He killed Job's oxen, donkeys, sheep, servants, and children, then afflicted Job with boils, and with a wife who told him to curse God and die. Job's response to her was, "Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?" The verse concludes, "In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (Job 2:10). God gave Job "friends" who accused him of having sinned and of thereby having incurred the wrath of God. Job defended his righteousness against the accusations of his friends. However, Job himself said, "I loathe my own life; I will give full vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul. I will say to God, 'Do not condemn me; let me know why You contend with me. Is it right for You indeed to oppress, to reject the labor of Your hands, and to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked? ... According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty; yet there is no deliverance from Your hand'" (10:1) Did God get upset with Job for blaming Him for his troubles? No, He was angry with Job's friends because they had "not spoken of Me what is right as My servant Job has" (42:7).

Here are some lessons from Job:

1. God is sovereign*. He is comfortable with His sovereignty to the point that He is willing to take responsibility even for the things Satan does. Job 42:11 says Job's brothers and sisters "comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought on him."
2. God gave Job the freedom to fully vent his complaint and both have, and speak, the bitterness of his soul. To say God is sovereign and He is using all things, and we should trust Him and give thanks, does not negate the pain we will feel. It does not mean we will not feel angry toward God. It does not mean we may not actually complain to God about His seeming lack of interest. Job said, "If I called and He anwered me, I could not believe that He was listening to my voice" (9:16). We may have these same feelings. God is sovereign enough to handle that, too. However, we must move on, eventually, leaving these feelings behind and moving into faith and thanksgiving.
3. Job longed for death, but held on until he finally reached a point of saying, "I know that You can do all things, and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.... Therefore I retract, and I repent in dust and ashes" (42:2-6).
4. God used the tragedies in Job's life to increase his knowledge of God, increase his faith, and increase his awareness of his own weakness and need to fully trust God.
5. When Job finally submitted to the hand of God in his life, God used him to intercede for his judgmental friends.

*When I speak of God's being sovereign, I'm using the term in the sense that He is king, He is Lord. He is the ultimate ruler and power in the universe. He knows all that is going on. He is the ultimate orchestrator of events. He is in control. I don't believe that is necessarily predestination. I believe God allows men to choose. On the other hand, I don't believe He's surprised by our choices. I accept that it is difficult for us to wrap our brains around, but He sees from an eternal perspective all the events we experience and things we do within the limits of space and time. He can pre-know without forcing us or eliminating our freedom to respond to His kindness.