The Father will never let us be tested more than we can spiritually handle. Even in the deepest trials He never leaves our side and Holy Spirit prays for us helping us to get through them. In our suffering we become stronger in our faith in Jesus, thanking Him, for the salvation He provides. We are refined in the furnace of affliction like dross is removed from silver.
In our weakness and in His power we can overcome. He takes what is meant to destroy us and turns it for our good.
Sometimes God will change our circumstances. He might take away the source of pain, heal us, help us make a decision, or restore a relationship. He has the power to do so. We can come to Him in prayer and ask, trusting He knows what is best.
But let us also not forget God's strength to change us, even if our circumstances stay the same. Today, when we trust in Jesus as our Savior, God transforms us from condemned to eternally redeemed (Romans 8:1-2). He gives us strength in pain, courage in fear, and contentment in chaos. He holds our hearts and builds our faith, making us look more and more like Christ. He has the power to change us for the better, beyond what we could ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20).
We can trust that God will never fail us. No matter what we see on the surface, we have the promise of God's strength at work in our lives.
How is this new life possible? Second Corinthians 5:18 goes on to say, "All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself." It is God, through Christ, who changes us. It is not a work we can do ourselves (Ephesians 2:8-9). It is only through His strength that we are changed.
God is in the business of transforming people. He changes hard and stubborn people, broken and hurting people, unloved, overlooked and misunderstood people, through the sacrifice of Jesus, creating humble, healed, loved and seen people who go out with His love to this broken world. Wherever and whoever you are today, God will never fail you. In Christ, God promises you are a new creation. And His strength and power make it so. First5
Even when our world (personal, or world at large) is heavy, or feeling unraveled, we can be grateful for...
Eyes open to the sacrament of the present moment, knowing that the ordinary is the hiding place for the holy.
Eyes open to the sacred; in compassionate gestures and hospitality and small heroes and big hugs (real or virtual).
Eyes open to the deep river running in each of us.
Eyes open to hope found in clarity with no need for arrogance, cruelty, fighting, or paranoia.
Eyes open to the invitation to give up the control that we clutched.
I like Richard Rohr’s take, “We do not have to figure it all out, straighten it all out, or even do it perfectly by ourselves. We do not have to be God. It is an enormous weight off our backs. All we have to do is participate! After this epiphany, things like praise, gratitude, and compassion come naturally—like breath. True spirituality is not taught; it is caught once our sails have been unfurled to the Spirit. Henceforth our very motivation and momentum for the journey toward holiness and wholeness is immense gratitude for already having it!” Sabbath Moments
Job 1:6–12
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.” 8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” 9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. The New King James Version
The Hebrew word used here, satan, literally means “the accuser” or “the adversary.The image of the satan figure wandering the earth looking for someone to accuse is similar to the new testament depiction of the devil in 1 Pet 5:8. Yahweh singles out Job as the ideal example of humanity.
The question of the source of Job’s piety lies at the heart of this book’s message: It may be a result of his blessing, or a response to God’s character and power. The satan figure summarizes Job’s piety with the phrase “fear God”. Job was blameless and upright because he feared God. Fearing God is connected with showing obedience to Him.
The satan figure suggests that God’s blessing is the reason for Job’s piety. Job actually does bless Yahweh, even though he had lost his wealth. Here, the satan figure asserts that—once God removes His blessing from Job—Job will curse God directly.
God allows the satan figure to afflict Job, but only up to a point. This conversation, and the real reason for his suffering, is never revealed to Job despite his many cries for an explanation. Faithlife Study Bible
The characteristics of the “Adversary” in the Book of Job imply that he was in fact Satan. He answered God’s questions in an antagonistic manner and accused Job of ulterior motives. That Satan came among the hosts of heaven at this time suggests that Satan still had access to God’s court, and that his final banishment was still in the future.
The Hebrew word Yahweh, usually translated the Lord, is the personal name of the true God of the Old Testament. It is the particular name of God in covenantal relations with His people Israel. This indicates that though Job was not an Israelite, he had a relationship with the true God.
From where do you come? God’s inquiry does not imply an ignorance of Satan’s behavior but was part of the conversation with Satan.
My servant refers to the proper relationship every person should have with God—that is, a joyful and reverent trust in God. Job was a model of this type of relationship with the Lord in the prologue and the epilogue.
Satan, always “the adversary,” questioned Job’s motives for fearing and serving God. The expression for nothing is emphatic in the Hebrew text. The question may be paraphrased, “Is Job really free of ulterior motives?” God had placed a hedge of protection around Job and his household. No harm could come to him unless the Lord permitted it.
Believers today should take great comfort from the biblical teaching that the Lord protects His people—whether by a cloud (Exodus 14:19, 20), or by a wall of fiery hosts (2 Kings 6:17), or through guardian angels (Hebrews 1:14).
Satan ignored customary court etiquette that would not permit him to address God directly as You, or use the personal references Your hand or Your face. Such irreverence was part of his constant strategy to demean God.
The sin of cursing God is a pivotal issue for the Book of Job. Job feared that his children might think or speak irreverently of God. But Satan asserted that Job would surely curse God if his prosperity and blessings were removed. Even Job’s wife would urge him to “curse God and die”.
That Satan must receive permission from the Lord to lay a hand on Job indicates that God limits Satan’s power. Believers can find strength and assurance from the fact that Satan’s actions are limited by God’s sovereign control.
After the prologue, Satan is never mentioned directly again in the Book of Job; he is only a minor character compared to the Lord of the universe. The NKJV Study Bible
Job 2:1–6 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, “From where do you come?”Satan answered the LORD and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”Then the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”So Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.
Psalm 34:7
The angel of the LORD encamps all around those who fear Him,
And delivers them.
Revelation 12:9–10 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, “Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.
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