January 31
“Though He slay me, I will hope in Him.” Job 13:15a
I love this verse. No matter what God allowed Satan to do to Job, before Job encountered God, in the midst of his sorrow and pain, he declared that he would trust God, that he would hope in God! This is truly amazing, and an example for us all. The difference between my scourging and Job’s trials is that I deserve the difficulties that He brings my way or allows to happen to me, but Job did not. Job was blameless.
So this is the third and final situation we may find ourselves in, that we are suffering, at least in part, not for fault found in ourselves but purely to demonstrate our trust in God and to strengthen and purify our faith. It is conceivable that our suffering is a combination of suffering for our sins (for who can declare themselves blameless before God?) and suffering as a test and a means of strengthening our faith and obedience. Either way, rebelling against God, deciding the throw in the towel and give in and give up, to allow ourselves to be persuaded by evil and enticed by evil men and women is the last thing we want to allow to happen.
God gives us the faith to overcome and the strength to endure, if we cry out to Him and ask Him for these. There is no temptation that can overcome us and gain the victory over us if we are in Christ (1 Corinthians 10:13). If we stumble in sin, it is because we want to, because we have lost hope and purpose, and the reasons for faithfully enduring are obscured. This is what the trial does, it obscures the truth that we are beloved children of God, loved so dearly that He would allow us to undergo difficult, deeply hurtful experiences so that He, if we cooperate and seek it, can purge from us the toxic love of this world that still motivates and empowers our sinful natures.
Grasp this, Christian! Really get a hold of what is of true value in this life. Realize that none of us have the ability to complain to God about how we think He isn’t treating us right. Even if we are innocent, in a human sense, we have no justification to complain or rebel against God, because He is so pure and holy that just the smallest of sins justifies Him sending us to hell for eternity.
What we are complaining about, really, is not the justness of the trial He is allowing, but His withholding of grace that He seems to be giving to others. But realize that if He has given us Himself, and eternity in heaven, and even this trial is a grace, then we begin to realize that even this time of suffering is a greater grace than the blessings, and we can give thanks and glorify God through the trial, being obedient to Him and turning away from sin, by the strength that He supplies, not our own.
Job maintained his integrity through his trial, and of course Jesus did as well and many other men and women of God. How about you? Are you obeying God more as a result of the trial you are in, or are you letting it get the best of you and giving in to sin? Are you throwing a little rebellion and rejecting God’s work of grace in your life, the trial, or are you defeated and your faith beaten down so that you give in to sin?
Know that God cares deeply for you, even though it seems like just the opposite, and know that God’s purposes for this trial are to bring you into conformity with the character of Jesus, so that He can use you more and fellowship with you more intimately. Seek this and renounce sin, and don’t let this trial be an opportunity for the devil in your life. That is the Enemy’s goal from the beginning, and his goal is to see that you fail the trial and dishonor God through it all. But no matter how you may have failed up to this point, it is never to late to repent and turn back to God, and let this trial have its perfect result of perfecting you for Christ sake! Amen!