See: Job 13:15- Though He slay me, yet
will I trust Him
weeks before in my sermon, I
identified one of Satan’s target in his war against the human race is to attack
man’s body through suffering, physical, emotional even financial. Or even a
combination of sorts. It is therefore not uncommon to see how a man who has
been targeted by Satan can come under severe attacks causing him to yield to
his scheme of things.
In my years as a pastor I have
seen how good people go through sufferings, something, which shouldn’t be
happening to them especially when they are serving the Lord diligently and
faithfully.
They are an example of a good
Christian, well respected by almost everyone in their church, workplace and
even in the community. So why did they suffer?
There are perhaps three reasons
for suffering. The first is because of old age when one’s body begins to feel
the wear and tear of prolonged usage and various parts of the body begins to
deteriorate in strength and resilience. The second reason for suffering is when
God allows it for purposes of building one’s maturity. It is when you really
need a “spanking” from the Lord that He will allow suffering to happen. These
sufferings will help you to identify the root cause and the need to refrain
from going that way again. In fact, the lessons learnt will help you to obey
God’s word. Finally there is the suffering that Satan throws at you to utterly
destroy you because you have become a threat to his plans and therefore leaving
you to spoil his plans is not an option. You may ask why doesn’t God do
something about it? I believe God is watching to see how you are going to
respond. Your faith is going to be tested and your faith is going to be on the
line.
Job of the bible is a great
example of how a good man full of faith integrity and humility was robbed of
every material wealth that he had accumulated due to his industrious, wise and
good business acumen when God allowed Satan to put him through suffering. As
though losing his possession was not enough, Job also lost the fruit of his
life i.e. his ten children to a tornado created by Satan. Satan waited for
Job’s response and although he was broken, yet he merely said, “Naked I came
from my mothers womb and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord
has taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job1:21. Bible said in all
this, Job did not sin norcharge God with wrong.
Finally God allowed Satan to
threaten Job’s life with boils and all the time he did not curse God. In fact,
Job’s four friends came to put him on a guilt trip by saying that it was his
sin that has caused him to suffer. All these time, Job displayed a characteristic
most of us do not care to nurture. Job was patient in all of these. He did not
react negatively or got into a pity party nor did he blame God. In fact, in all
this, Job said that even if God would allow him to die, he will still trust
God. Job was willing to wait for God to come to his rescue but even if he
didn’t, God will still be his God in whom he trusts.
Next time when you go through
some form of suffering, remember, if it is not a natural form of suffering but
it is God’s testing time or the devil’s evil plot, learn to wait upon the Lord.
Learn patience and wait for God to come and rescue you. You could be going
through a very rough marriage. Maybe your girl friend has betrayed you. You
suffered a huge financial loss because someone was careless with your money.
You lost your dream job to a politician’s son. Whatever your suffering is,
remember that God is in control. God is still on the throne. The
good news is if you are patient enough, better things are ahead for you. Scour
through His words diligently and spend time talking to Him, be in His presence.
Soon enough God will show Himself strong and remove you from your troubles. In
the end Job received double of what he had lost. What a marvelous ending to his
suffering!
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