Lesson 2: JOB: You Get What You Deserve! ???
How can the suffering of a righteous man help you understand life's little troubles? Find out in this section!
Introduction to Job: How His Troubles Appeared
Have you ever noticed the paradox of baptism? People are excited; they're drawing into a closer relationship with Christ. They're committing themselves to God's plan. They're excited.
Then shortly after baptism, THINGS begin to happen...
Strange, inexplicable things. Car breakdowns, relationship blowups, "accidents" and strife--and where does it come from? The devil. Satan is always threatened by us drawing closer to Christ, so he tries to discourage us. Often, as a church, we forget to inform new baptismal candidates that as an ally of God, you are an enemy of Satan. He notices things like prayer and commitment, and he strikes out against them.
In fact, sometimes problems creep up in life that there is no explanation for. We throw our hands into the air, cry out "Why me, God? Why is this happening to me?"
We know that hardships happen to us for a variety of reasons:
1. Our own sin. 2. The sins of others. 3. Avoidable physical or natural disaster. 4. Unavoidable physical or natural disaster.
There is one other "unpopular" reason that is left off this list though:
It might be part of God's plan for us.
We get stronger when we have something to battle against. A muscle grows due to resistance. It's possible that our present suffering is a gift (yes, I said a gift) from God to help strengthen us.
What's more important then, than where our struggles come from, is HOW we respond to them when they do come.
As we'll soon see, Job and his friends become almost obsessed with discovering the reason for Job's suffering, almost forgetting that how he responds to it is more important.
Let's begin.
Job 1:1-12
God is having a conversation with the devil. It goes something like this:
GOD: "So, Satan, what are you up to now?"
SATAN: "Well, I'm looking to cause trouble for someone."
GOD: "Really? Have you thought about Job? He's a very righteous man..."
SATAN: "Yeah right. Job's the teacher's pet. If I try to do anything to him, you'll strike out against me."
GOD: "No, no. I'll tell you what. You do whatever you like to test Job's faith, but you may not harm Job himself.
And this is where verse twelve ends, with that final response from God:
"The LORD said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything that he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger."
So the devil does his worst:
v. 13-15 oxen and donkeys driven off, servants and workers slaughtered by the Sabeans
v. 16 sheep and servants burned up by "fire from the sky"
v. 17 Chaldeans come, steal camels, kill the servants with them.
v. 18-19 house collapses on Job's sons and daughters because of a horrible wind, and all of them die.
Job loses his possessions, his wealth, his helpers, his animals, his home, and finally, his family. And what is the reason? Satan's sin, and God's will. Satan is looking to cause trouble, and God sees a way to possibly strengthen Job through hardship...
THINK of your own life. Have there been especially trying times in the past where everything seemed to come at you and attack you all at once? How did it feel at the time? How does it feel now that you look back on it? Do you think there was any good that came out of your situation? Write about it. Do only flashes of certain images come to mind? THAT IS POETRY--get it down on paper!
