SCRIPTURE:

Romans 11:33-36 (NIV)
33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 34 “Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” 35 “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 36 For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.

James 1:17 (NIV)
17 Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.

DEVO:

I suppose you may be asking some of the same questions I did as you read the story of Job. Questions like, why would God allow this to happen to a man who lived with such integrity as Job? Why does it seem like bad things happen to good people and, for that matter, good things happen to bad people? If that could happen to Job, could something even more terrible than what I’ve already endured also happen to me?

It can be a bit troubling to see that God allowed Satan to have nearly free reign in Job’s life. The most difficult part of wrestling through this dilemma is that there is no way we can possibly know fully what God’s motives and intentions were. Like explaining to a 3-year old the difference between yesterday and last week or why the sun seems to move in the sky, our finite minds could never fathom the full scope of the plans of the Almighty. However, as we read Chapters 1 and 2 closely, we can see glimpses of insight that help us to understand more the character of The Father and how He meets us in our pain in order to help us make sense of it.

God stewards seasons of testing to those He loves

The opening two chapters of Job describe Satan as busying himself by surveying the earth for someone on whom he could wreak havoc. Satan isn’t the one, however, who requests Job . . . God actually suggests him! “Have you considered my servant, Job?” Why would God do this? Isn’t His job to protect us from the enemy? Honestly, I’m not really sure it is. Jesus prayed that we would be “delivered from the evil one,” (Matthew 6:13) not necessarily protected from him. In fact, I believe we see over and over in scripture the enemy having a field day with some of God’s best — at least temporarily. 

Joseph was sold into slavery and put in prison. David was run out of his Kingdom. Paul was imprisoned. Jesus was put on the cross. Yet each of these were delivered by God, and their pain was used tremendously to advance the good news of the Kingdom and help countless numbers of people. I was once told that God stewarded my pain to me. That He gives His most trusted soldiers His most difficult assignments. This changed my perspective from thinking that God was punishing me with this pain to seeing that God was actually preparing me for a great assignment and was using this pain as a training ground for it.

God is still in complete control

Even though Satan was the one who inflicted the pain on Job (for it is an impossibility for God to cause or inflict evil), God still permitted it. And yet, He had the final say as to when enough was enough: “but on the man himself do not lay a finger (Job 1:12b)”. This means that even Satan is under God’s domain and he can’t do anything unless given permission by God. Realizing this completely changed my perspective of Satan. Rather than seeing him as this deformed, demented, nightmarish creature, I now see him as a dog . . . on a leash. Satan, in all his power and dominion, still has a choke collar around his neck and still gets yanked around by the Almighty himself. This means that when I’m most out of control, God is still in control. Even if something is over my head, it’s still under His feet. He is powerful enough to intervene and His arm is never too short to save.

God is at work to turn our pain around for good

If He is powerful enough to stop what has befallen my life, then why didn’t He? Is He not good enough to do so? Is He not loving? I’m not entirely sure why He didn’t prevent what came into your life and mine. However, I do know and trust that He is still good. I also know that part of His master plan is to take this wretched, horrific thing that happened to you and turn it around for good . . . and use it to ultimately destroy the enemy’s work in your life. God allows enough of the enemy’s work to be done to us that it would ultimately undo the enemy. This is what makes God the greatest Jiu Jitsu artist of all time. 

Jiu Jitsu is a martial art form in which you seek to use the momentum of your opponent against your opponent in order to defeat him. Timothy Keller wrote in Walking with God Through Pain and Suffering, “God gives evil enough space that it will eventually defeat itself.” God has built the universe such that any act of evil will be given an opposite but unequal reaction. God’s reaction to evil is always much greater than the action evil first inflicted. Out of Joseph’s enslavement, millions were saved from starvation. Out of King David’s pain, the Temple was built. Out of Paul’s imprisonment, churches were started all over the Mediterranean and most of the New Testament was written. Out of Jesus’ death, eternal salvation was made available to humanity. Every action of the enemy has an opposite and greater “reaction” from God. God’s ultimate redemptive purposes begin to be revealed as pain enters our lives. Like a father who comes after the bully picking on his daughter, you can rest assured that God is going to use your pain and mine to ultimately defeat evil itself. His love for us is too great to let evil win. His zeal for us is too strong to let the enemy have the last word. 

But, friend, it’s not just for the good of others, or the good of this world, it’s also for your good. And as we move throughout this 42-Day journey my prayer is you’ll begin to see God’s loving plan and good intentions for you unfold. My hope is that you’ll begin to live in the knowledge of the reality that “God works all things together for the good of those who love Him and who have been called according to His purposes (Romans 8:28).” 

QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND JOURNALING:

1. In what aspects of your life, do you feel most out of control? 

2. Do you see God as a strong and loving father? Why or why not?

3. If God not only gives us good things but also difficult things for us to steward, what are some ways you can be faithful in the test you currently find yourself?

4. What questions do you have for God that you’ve been wrestling with after reading this today?

5. Begin asking the Lord to show you His goodness even in the midst of your trials.

PRAYER:

Lord, there are times I get worried and anxious over things that are out of my control. There are times that I question whether You hear me when I pray and I wonder whether You care. Help me to feel and sense Your presence today. Help me to know You’re near. Show me in the ways that only You can show me that You are not taken by surprise by the trials of my life, but that You are patiently waiting to turn my pain around both for my good and for the undoing of evil in this world.