I learned so much through writing the Job script and discovering who God is declared to be in the scriptures. I thought I’d share five thoughts with you.
Jobs story shows Gods purpose in everyones story. Though the details are all different, the principles are the same. There is a war going on with good verses evil. A war to get all people to turn from God with their mouth and their actions. A war to destroy their faith. God is silent for a season. But He is always victorious for us even though His timing is different than we might like. Even though His ways are not always understandable, they are always for a good purpose.
Every detail of Jobs' life is a lesson for him and for us There were tests all along the way in his life... when he was prosperous and when he was struggling. He didn’t get to choose what happened to him but he did get to choose how he responded. It’s the same with us today. How do we respond in the daily lessons and in the bigger and more difficult lessons? Where do we focus our attention? Do we keep focused on God and His glory or do we focus on what doesn’t matter, what doesn’t seem fair, or the struggle at hand and temporal things? Is our focus on human knowledge or Gods absolute truth? Our lives are filled with tests that are meant to refine us and strengthen us. God never allows a test for our destruction, only for our learning.
After reading of Jobs horrific trial and how he stayed faithful, I expected God to say, “Good job! Well done! You stayed faithful." and things like, "That’s my boy!" But God didn’t. He said almost rather sharply “Gird up like a man and now I will ask the questions!” He went on to point to himself and His amazing glory. It’s the gird up part that set me back and caused me to think. And although I'm certain that “Well done” was given to Job, it wasn’t until he finished his life story and he was given his life review. God was reminding him that He didn’t have time to rest and fall into self pity nor was it time to congratulate him. As long as we live in our temporal bodies we must stay on guard and we must stay focused. Focused on the war at hand and on our Creator. God gives Job such an unbelievable, breathtaking description of who HE is. Those two things will keep us from fainting in the battle of good verses evil during our lifetime.
Job and his friends ended up being angry towards one another. His friends were angry that Job didn’t admit his guilt and take responsibility for his trial. They wanted him to admit that God was punishing him for being unrighteous. In turn, Job was angry that they accused him and blamed him for the horrific trial in his life. The truth was that God allowed this battle to take place for Jobs good, for Gods' glory, and for millions of people across generations of time to display the same battle for everyone who lives on earth. Job is a hero that we get to learn so much from. I learned that we can easily focus on the wrong things and get our focus on people, on what doesn’t seem fair and/or forget that God is sovereign and his promises will come through. We tend to battle one another, our fellow soldiers, like Job did. But once God changed Jobs' perspective, Job prayed for his friends and got His eyes on what was most important, God Himself.
Lastly, I learned more about the Sovereignty of God through this book than any other Biblical story. God sees what we cannot see. God hedges in and protects us. Satan has to bow and submit to God in every battle plan he has. Every detail in jobs story, and in our stories, is under the Sovereignty of God and his plan. Stay focused on our Sovereign God, for He is the lifter of our head and the health of our countenance
The Bible says that satan is like a lion, seeking who he can destroy. But God looks across the earth to see who is seeking Him. Satan is all about destruction and God is all about relationship. Gird up soldiers, there is a battle for your allegiance and God, The Victor, longs to be victorious in and through our lives.
Colette Fabry
Founder of ARH Ministries
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