Have you ever gone through a difficult time and wondered, “Is this a test or is this a consequence of something I did or didn’t do?” Most likely, we have all felt that same way at some point and sometimes have discovered that the answer we receive is, “Both.” Sometimes these trials are consequences of our missteps and, thus, we obliged to deal with those consequences. In conjunction with this scenario is the test God allows to see if we are committed to overcome those things that caused us to make a poor choice in the first place. Still, there are those times when God allows us to be tested in order to produce something great in our lives.
It appears that Job wondered aloud whether his trial was a test or a consequence because, even though he was an upright man, he cursed the day that he was born saying, “Why didn’t I die at birth?” But Scripture points out that Job was, indeed, an upright man, so much so that God placed a hedge of protection around him. It was that hedge which prevented the Adversary from attacking Job as he moved to and fro in the earth looking for someone to devour. And so it’s very interesting, almost comical, that God called the Adversary’s attention to Job and basically said to Satan, “Why don’t you attack him?”
“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?’” (Job 1:8)
Why would God seemingly taunt the Adversary and suggest that he attack Job knowing what Satan would like to do to him? Perhaps its because God knew that there were none like him in the earth. In other words, God knew that there was something about Job that Satan didn’t know; in fact, its likely that Job didn’t realize it about himself. There was something in Job’s makeup that was known to the Creator alone. Furthermore, that which was in him could only be manifest in the earth through trial and tribulation. Perhaps God wanted everybody, including Job himself, to see that there was none like him in the earth. It’s true that as he suffered through his trial Job had his moments of weakness, yet in the end, he makes this declaration:
“For I know that my Redeemer lives.” (Job 19:25)
That truth is what we need to keep in mind when we are going through our trials. In spite of us and our poor choices, our Redeemer lives. Because of us, our Redeemer paid the ultimate price so that we might live in Him. He paid that price knowing full well the imperfections within each and every one of us. Yes, He allows us to go through trials knowing that it might bring us to the point of cursing the day we were born. But He also knows that buried deep within us is something special that He created within us. It’s something He wants to be manifest in the earth for the whole world to see. And He knows, as it was with Job, only trial and tribulation can produce this kind of special fruit.
One last thought. It’s very important to see that, even though the Creator lowered the hedge and allowed the adversary to go after Job, He set limits to what Satan could do. He told him, “You can do this and you can do that, but you can’t cross this line.” So, in every test and trial we must endure, the Adversary is only permitted to do what the Creator will allow him to do. You see, God is not in favor of our destruction. He is in favor of our perfection.
Don’t curse the day you were born because you were born with a unique purpose. Keep reminding yourself, “My Redeemer lives.”
Shalom.
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