Have you considered my servant Job…?

I recently listened to a sermon podcast and the minister made a comment about trials and difficulties in life, specifically divorce and the painful aftermath for all involved. He said something to the effect that “he didn't believe that God brought these difficulties upon us, but that he believed God redeems them for His glory”. When I heard that I thought, “I used to think like that too”. But now, I see things differently. My belief now is that there are NO accidents and NO mistakes and that God is VERY much a part of EVERYTHING that goes on in our lives… the good, the bad and the ugly. I do believe He redeems what the enemy means for harm, and that He uses the consequences of our own sinful choice to make us aware of our great need for him in our life.  But I also believe He causes and brings upon us difficulties, trials, suffering and discomforts so that we are able to SEE Him better. I have discovered in my own life that when life is really hard and painful, I am able to see Him in ways that I never could when times were good. I have come to believe God is THAT big and THAT good. He is ALWAYS more interested my ETERNAL position than He is in my temporal comforts.

The first scripture that comes to mind to back this up is in Job 1:8: “Then the LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job?”  God had put a “hedge” around Job that Satan could not penetrate until God gave him “permission”! God ALLOWED Satan to take his children, devastate his livestock and inflict horrible sores on his body… GOD was in control of what Satan could and could not do. What was the result of all this pain and suffering? At the end of the book of Job he says; “My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. “  His understanding and knowledge of GOD was enlightened and he SAW God for the first time! There are so many more scriptures like that that we tend to overlook! For some reason we seem to have a hard time believing that a “loving” God would bring difficulties upon us… Why not? Just look at what He did to His son! Jesus endured persecution, rejection, humiliation, suffered a horrible beating and then died a very painful death on the cross. Yes, there was a purpose and a plan for all of that, namely the salvation and redemption of mankind but, I believe there is also a purpose and a plan for the sufferings that He allows and brings upon us too. Aren’t we also “adopted” sons and daughters?

We have believed the lie that life has to “feel good” to BE good. We do not like “pain” and we will avoid it at all costs! I believe there are two kinds of pain. There is a “destructive” kind and a “restorative” kind. Satan is the author of the “destructive” kind. He gets us to believe lies about ourselves and about God that causes us to make life choices which bring destructive consequences. Such as, relationships that are hurtful and harmful, sex before marriage resulting in diseases and unwanted pregnancies, addictions of all kinds which puts us in unimaginable bondage! But the pain that God brings upon us is “restorative”, not unlike setting a broken bone so we can walk straighter, cleaning out an infected wound, filling a cavity to prevent further rot, labor pains before giving birth to a baby. God works on the healing of the wounded and broken hearts and that can be VERY painful, but this pain results in health, restoration and wellness of the heart, mind and spirit. What is so amazing to me is how quickly we jump into the enemy’s frying pan of destructive pain while we are running from God’s healing hands!

I believe that God uses and causes every circumstance in our lives to refine, shape and mold us to be the people and servants He has designed us to be for His kingdom purposes. We give Satan WAY too much credit for the things that God has placed in our lives to refine us. Here are a couple more Old Testament verses to back this up; in Amos chapter 4 God goes into great detail listing all the hardships and calamities HE brought upon the Israelites to get them to return to Him; “I gave you empty stomachs in every city and lack of bread in every town, yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD. I also withheld rain from you when the harvest was still three months away. I sent rain on one town, but withheld it from another. One field had rain; another had none and dried up.  People staggered from town to town for water but did not get enough to drink, yet you have not returned to me," declares the LORD. Many times I struck your gardens and vineyards, I struck them with blight and mildew. Locusts devoured your fig and olive trees, yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD. I sent plagues among you as I did to Egypt. I killed your young men with the sword, along with your captured horses. I filled your nostrils with the stench of your camps, yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD. I overthrew some of you as I overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. You were like a burning stick snatched from the fire, yet you have not returned to me, declares the LORD. Therefore this is what I will do to you, Israel, and because I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. He who forms the mountains, creates the wind, and reveals his thoughts to man, he who turns dawn to darkness, and treads the high places of the earth-- the LORD God Almighty is his name.” In Deuteronomy it talks about God’s “blessings” and “curses” for the Israelites that are based on whether they followed Him or turned away from Him to worship other gods. If they did turn away from Him, it says in Deuteronomy 29:20 that “The LORD will never be willing to forgive him; his wrath and zeal will burn against that man. All the curses written in this book will fall upon him, and the LORD will blot out his name from under heaven.” Ouch!

The Old Testament is FULL of scriptures like this of God’s warning and/or punishment that HE is placing on HIS people to get them to “return” to him… they are not “unbelievers” but HIS chosen people that He is disciplining to correct their wandering hearts. Tom gave a great description of God’s discipline, he said it isn’t  “punishment” so much as it is like training a Bonsai Tree which needs pruning, redirecting and reshaping to grow and look the way we want it to. That is EXACTLY what God is doing in our lives! When we start to grow in the wrong directions and walk away from Him, He redirects us by tugging, pruning, poking, and prodding us through our circumstances, to redirect our steps so He can reshape us into HIS image. The more we fight to have things our own way, the more drastic measures He will use to get our attention. I have always said, the most painful part of my walk with the Lord is facing the ugliness of my own heart when the Lord reveals it to me through my circumstances.

Anyway, I can think of several scriptures in the New Testament that talks about “enduring” and expecting pain as a believer and a disciple of Christ. James 1:2 says “Consider it all Satan’s fault when you face trials of many kinds…” Oh, wait. That’s not what it says! “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” And another one is in 1 Peter 4: “Dear friends, blame the enemy when you suffer painful trials…” Oops, that’s not it either. “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed...” And another one is in Romans 5:3-5 “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” If you are looking for it, you can find scriptures like these all throughout the Bible. Here is another one in Luke 22:31 that reminds me of the one in Job. Jesus said: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.”…Who did Satan “ask” and who gave him permission? Here is one last one from the book of Revelation. When God is releasing His “Bowls of Judgment” it says this of the people; “They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.” They KNEW who was doing these things but their hearts were still so hard, they refused to acknowledge the Almighty God. So, what I have gathered from these scriptures, and my experience, is that God will do whatever it takes and whatever He needs to do to bring us back to Him,  bring us closer to Him so we can know Him better and to transform us into His image… and if He needs to, He can get that refining fire REALLY HOT!

Father, I thank you for the refining and purifying of my heart and mind. I thank you that Your way is the BEST way even though it does not always seem right or feel good. I can trust you with my heart and know that You will take very good care of it as You tend to it’s wounds and brokenness. Help us all to SEE you and Your purposes in ALL of our situations and circumstances and allow you to do the work that is so needed in our lives. I want to SEE you more and more each day, and I am willing to surrender my comfort to do so. Thank you for Your discipline which makes me a better person and more like Christ. With much love, your daughter, Linda :)