Job 1

I am shocked at this first chapter of Job. I have read it before, but for some reason I didn't know that all of those things happened to Job in the first day that Satan began to test him. In this chapter he lost all of his sons and daughters, he lost his sheep and shepherds, he lost his oxen and donkeys and he lost his camels and camel drivers. This is a classic example of, "When it rains it pours!" I couldn't help but feel sorry for Job and at the same time it made me realize how great I have it. I have always heard that bad things happen in threes, but this is way worse than that!

Let's start at the beginning. Satan came to Heaven with some angels and was talking to God during this time about how he had been down on Earth and was just checking things out to see who was doing what. God immediately bragged on his servant Job. Job was described as a faithful man. He was also a good parent. The first chapter said that he woke up and offered a burnt offering on behalf of his children every day. He did this just in case they had sinned against God inwardly and he didn't know about it. Now we know that the only way to be forgiven for our sins is for each individual to ask for forgiveness on their own, but Job was pleading for mercy on his children. As a parent, I know that I don't do this near enough. I should be on my knees praying for God to have mercy on my child and to protect him from evil daily. Spiritual warfare is constantly going on around us. I know we don't really think about it too much, but we need to constantly be in prayer for ourselves, our children, our family, our friends and our country in general. Job made this sacrifice on behalf of his children on a daily basis and we can really learn a lot from him as far as prayer and meditation on behalf of others.

The part of this chapter where God strikes a deal with Satan reminds me of a good versus evil movie where there are deals that are struck behind the scenes. God told Satan that he could test Job, but he said that he couldn't hurt HIM. This tells me that God was giving Satan permission to tempt Job. We should take comfort in this because although we may sometimes feel that Satan is in control of our lives because of the things that are happening, we need to remember that God allows Satan to tempt us. Everything that happens may not come from God, but it is approved by God which means he is still in control. He doesn't tempt us without allowing us a way out of that temptation. Job's way out of the temptation to curse God was to immediately begin to praise God for the things he has done for him. He knew that God gave, but God also took away. This is still true today. We cannot expect to go through life without suffering hard times. If we never went through anything bad, then we wouldn't be able to learn from those experiences. I know I have been through some awful stuff, but it's nothing compared to what some people go through. There are people that are held captive in the Middle East for being a Christian and they suffer. They are tortured and they are burned alive. I cannot even begin to imagine what they are going through but they don't give up. They don't curse God. They praise him in the storm. Many times people get angry with God for the things that they have gone through or they are going through. Instead of blaming who is truly to blame, Satan, they blame God for allowing it to happen. It is easier to blame God because God allows it. This reminds me of the cross. God allowed Jesus to die on the cross. If he had wanted to, he could have gotten Jesus down off of that cross, but he didn't. He allowed it to happen. I think one reason why is because it allows us to know that Jesus has suffered just like we do. His suffering was mental and physical. Mental because his own father had to turn his back on him. Physical because of all of the horrible torture he went through. The sacrifice that he made relates to so many different situations that we go through on a daily basis. I am so thankful for the trials I have endured. They were difficult to go through at the time, but they have made me the person that I am today.

I think that we can all learn from Job and the things that he goes through. As we continue on throughout the book, we will see that Job's life will get even more difficult. He will see his friends and family turn on God and he will feel like he is all alone in the world, but he still loves God throughout the whole ordeal. Thanks for reading and thanks to those who gave me the suggestions for which book of the Bible to read and study next.