I don’t want to just finish the fight; I want to win.
What happens next is a series of God-allowed, devil-enacted attacks through which Job loses everything, including his health. At this point, his wife encourages him to “curse God and die.” Way to come through with the support, Mrs. Job. And through all of this, Job defends God, declaring that we have to accept everything that comes from God, the good and the bad.
The next few rounds of this fight are wrought with discussion, frustration, and complaint… all words, and all uttered by human lips. No more debate between heaven and hell over Job’s faithfulness. Satan was only allowed to go so far in his attack. Humanity took it from there, multiplying its impact, as we so often do.
Job’s friends come to see him, and after a week of grieving alongside him, we read a series of speeches from all of the earthly characters. At some points, Job defends God (who, mind you, is never in need of our defense, but I’m sure He appreciates it anyway). At other points, we see him as arrogant and prideful, even challenging God.
Sometimes his friends encourage him. Other times they indulge him. But suffice it to say, Job can find no aid in the idle words of others. The longer he sits in this place of grief and shattered dreams, the more difficult it becomes to find hope for a future. Hope deferred truly does make the heart grow sick. Can you relate? I certainly can.
So at this point, both in Job’s story and maybe even in our own, I think we need to remind ourselves of what we have already declared to be true: God is sovereign. We have to collect evidence pointing to His goodness and faithfulness rather than waste our time defending our right to feel the way we feel about our stories.
We have to collect evidence pointing to His goodness and faithfulness rather than waste our time defending our right to feel the way we feel about our stories.
After a few more complaint sessions and conversations, God steps in. He’s had enough. And I beg of you, my caffeine cohort, please do not rely on my swift summary of this scenario; read chapter 38 for yourselves, especially verse 13: “Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth, to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?” No, Lord, I have not. But You have. You do. You will.
All things that feel wicked, unfair, unjust… He will bring about their end. Including the waiting season you and I are enduring in this very moment. We cannot. He can. He will.
God was in charge of the boundaries in Job’s story, and He is still in charge of the boundaries in ours. There is a purpose to this fight. There is meaning to being here. It didn’t feel good for Job. He didn’t always handle it well. And eventually, God had to challenge his thinking. Will we allow God to challenge our thinking?
Will we allow God to challenge our thinking?
Yet deep down, Job seems to have known something that we would do well to recall: this life is about the abiding presence of our Father who, no matter what our circumstances may show, has not abandoned His throne. So even though Satan may appear to be given a long leash, he’s still on a leash. God says when… God says where… God says how far this devil dog can roam.
Job spent many chapters in his book asking for death to come and questioning why he’d been allowed to live. Transparency: I’ve secretly had those thoughts. But we know better. We not only live in a post-Jesus world, but we have access to the promises of the New Testament: that all things work together for our good; that we have abundant life; that His dream for us exceeds anything we could ever conjure up for ourselves.
That’s exactly what Job got in the end. More than he started off with, more than was taken, more than was suffered, more than he could ever imagine. But his submission to the Lord came before his double portion. Before there was a promise of restoration on earth, Job’s response to God’s authority was one of repentance and trust.
After all of the warfare he endured, the Bible tells us that Job lived 140 more years, saw four generations of his children and grandchildren, and died an old man who had lived a full life. Because of God, Job won. He didn’t just survive all fifteen rounds. He won the fight.
His dream for us exceeds anything we could ever conjure up for ourselves.
After all of the warfare he endured, the Bible tells us that Job lived 140 more years, saw four generations of his children and grandchildren, and died an old man who had lived a full life. Because of God, Job won. He didn’t just survive all fifteen rounds. He won the fight.
We cannot be successful here if we do not fully lean into His arms, completely trust in His strength, repeatedly recall His promises over us, and consistently reject the attack of the enemy through the lies he whispers in our ears. Remember, Job only endured two specific attacks from Satan; the rest of his suffering came as a result of the thoughts and conversations he had after those attacks.
We trust Him in this battle, just as He has trusted us with this battle,
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