Not too long ago, I was wondering why we find it hard to trust God sometimes. It occurred to me that the story of Job might shed some light on why we hesitate when it comes to trusting God. In this all too familiar story we are told about the gathering of the sons of God. Somehow, Satan managed to make it to that meeting. Quite “cleverly”, it seems, the devil managed to turn God against Job. From our point of view it seems that Satan used God to achieve his own devious plans. He found a way to get God to allow him (Satan) to torture Job. How terrible, a blameless man suffered unjustly, because God was “outsmarted”.
Sometimes we have a legitimate concern that God might perhaps drop the ball again, and permit Satan to torment us unnecessarily. After all, haven’t we all asked this before… what was the point of Job’s suffering? Perhaps, you are asking that same question about something you are going through right now. What is the point of the financial struggles you are going through? What is the point of the family/relationship problems? What is the point of the health problems? Is God taking bets on your life? Why? Is God having fun toying with our lives? What has He to gain? What have you to gain?
Well, I found out today that I was wrong. Satan did not “fool” God in order to punish Job. NO, God fooled Satan. God in fact used Satan’s hatred to achieve his righteous purpose for Job’s life. You may not have noticed this before, but God just revealed to me that the story of Job is the whole story of man’s relationship with God. It is interesting to note that Job’s early life was patterned after the old covenant, but later on his life became a testament to the new covenant.
Earlier in his life Job lived by the letter of the law. We see this very clearly in Job 31. Take v5-8 for instance, “ If I have walked with falsehood, and my foot has hurried to deceit – let me be weighed in a just balance and let God know my integrity! If my step has turned aside form the way, and my heart has followed my eyes, and if any spot has clung to my hands; then let me sow, and another eat; and let what grows for me be rooted out.” The whole of ch 31 are Job’s last words of defense of his RIGHTeousness. And the thing to note is that under the old covenant, Job 31 is exactly what God expected his people to be like. I bet Abraham, Isaac, Samuel, Elijah, (perhaps David), Daniel, Isaiah and the like could have claimed the words in this chapter. However, God wanted something better for Job. God used Satan to get Job to the point where he could understand the message of Grace, which is the new covenant. After God thundered and responded to Job’s words, here are Job’s final words in ch 42: 5 and 6 “ I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes”. Observe this: Job has finally, come to realize that it is only by grace that we are not consumed. He understands the Holiness, and the Otherness of God. Under, the new covenant, we come to God in repentance not by doing what is RIGHT.
In my humble opinion, I believe that this was the point of all Job’s suffering. And, yes, it was worth it. God was bringing him into a better covenant. So perhaps, when it seems as if God fell asleep on the job and that the Devil is having a field day in our lives, let us remember the story of Job. The happy ending is not that Job ended up with more “stuff” at the end of his life — NO NO NO! Rather, the happy ending is that Job at the end of his life KNEW God better.