Application Of The Book Of Job
To Our Lives
Polly Gwinn, February 10, 2008Polly has decided to reiterate a lesson she had published already quite
some time ago, since she deems it appropriate. Enjoy!
She entitled her article back then
GOD DIDN’T CAUSE IT TO HAPPEN
AND
THE DEVIL DIDN’T MAKE YOU DO IT!
The most asked question in history is; “why did God allow this to happen”? Why does God cause bad things to happen to good people? Jesus said there was no one good except God alone (Luke 18:19). The Psalmist says there is no one who does good because they have all turned aside and become corrupt (Psalm 14:1-4) and there are none that seek God (Psalm 53:1-4). Why is there no one good? Because they have all sinned and turned away and have become worthless (Romans 3:11-12). God made a perfect world but through the disobedience of man kind it became corrupt and filled with sin. “God was grieved that He made man on the earth and His heart was filled with pain” (Genesis 6:6), so He wiped man off the face of the earth with the exception of Noah and his family. Noah was spared because he was “blameless among the people” and “did everything just as God commanded him” (Genesis 6:9 & 22). However, even Noah was not “good” as shown in Genesis 9:21. Again God looked for someone that He could trust and turned to Abraham (Genesis 17:1-2). Abraham couldn’t find anyone worth saving in Sodom but was allowed to warn his family and lead them out before God destroyed the city of sin. Lot’s wife looked back after being warned not to and was turned to a pillar of salt (Genesis 19:17 & 26). God didn’t cause these events, the devil didn’t make them happen and Adam and Eve are not to blame for all the bad things we do. From cover to cover the Bible is filled with rebellious people causing their own destruction and we continue to do the same in spite of numerous warnings (Genesis 6:3, Hebrews 3:10).
The only thing required of us is faith (Deuteronomy 11:1) but understand that faith is not an insurance policy but a blanket assurance that God will be with us no matter what we encounter. In our world of pain and hardship we find God in the loving act of sending someone to “stand in the gap” for us. There are those who stand by us when we suffer the loss of a loved one, those who stand in prayer for us, the medical profession that attend our aches and pains, all instruments of God. Goodness and faith does not make us immune from suffering (John 16:33) because God does not promise to prevent pain and tragedy only to be with us through it all. Throughout Scripture God has searched for those who would stand in the gap to prevent His wrath (Ezechiel 22:30) and He sought to strengthen those whose hearts were fully committed to Him (2 Chronicles 16:9) to no avail. I believe He still searches today and is still having trouble finding anyone!
God did everything He could in the Old Testament to get things ready for us. He looked everywhere for someone to save the world from His fiery judgment. He finally found one person to commit fully to Him in order to bring Jesus into the earth. Her name was Mary! Did this miraculous birth and ministry change minds? For a while when Jesus walked on earth healing and feeding everyone clamored around Him believing. Yet, some of the very ones He healed and fed crucified Him. God stayed honorable and strove to help man kind even though we turned on Him. He has healed and fed multitudes today and still we are turning on Him and yet wondering why bad things happen. He is wondering why we don’t use our faith, the Word and the power of the Holy Spirit. Many do not know the stories about people doing evil in the Bible and God staying true because they have never read the Bible. “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God” (Matthew 22:29).
God does not punish but He disciplines. We (man) did not establish the standards of what is right (Isaiah 49:22). We need to settle it in our minds and hearts that whatever God does is right whether we understand it or not (Romans 8:28). Seek ways in which we can profit spiritually from suffering and trials as well as the blessings we receive in life. Don’t be a “fair weather friend” to God. The world is now under God’s curse because of man’s rebellion against God’s Word (Genesis 3:17). I am hesitant to say that this includes the very young. You see, there is no one born innocent because just as sin entered the world through one man, then all men are born into sin (Romans 5:12-14), not to forget that one must reach the age of accountability for salvation. God does not wish any of the little ones to perish (Matthew 18:10 & 14), “and the little ones that you said would be taken captive, your children who do not yet know good from bad….they will enter the land” (Deuteronomy 1:39) and David said that he would “go to him” meaning the baby that died at birth (2 Samuel 12:20-23). God knows the end from the beginning (Isaiah 46:10-11) and it is appointed to man once to die (Hebrews 9:27). Maybe, just maybe those who die so very young are being spared from evil and find rest as they lie in death (Isaiah 57:1-2). God did not create the world this evil way and one day will set it right (Revelation 21:14, 2 Peter 3:10-13, Revelation 21:1-6, Isaiah 65:17, Acts 3:21).
Does God want you to know His plan? The God, who has shown Himself to be for us, wills also to be with us. He is infinitely capable and desirous of relating Himself to every person who freely opens himself to such a relationship. God wills this as the means of fulfilling His purpose in us, enabling us to become the kind of persons He intends us to be. Wisdom does not come to us naturally. We gain it by respecting God and making careful choices (Proverbs 16:9, 16:33). Surely you have heard of God (Isaiah 40:28), He does not hide from us (Isaiah 45:15 & 19) and He will tell us His secrets (Psalm 25:14). God is in control! He sends death and brings life (1 Samuel 2:6-7), people who do right will have problems but the Lord will solve them (Psalm 34:19), God will hold his hand when he stumbles (Psalm 37:24), good people will be bothered by trouble but not defeated (Proverbs 24:16) with faith, nothing can really harm you (Luke 21:18-19) and God has set a day that He will judge all the world with fairness (Acts 17:31).
Evil acts and events are not part of God’s plan (Jeremiah 29:11). He is love (1 John 4:7-8, Job 34:10, Deuteronomy 32:4), He feels our sorrow (John 11:33, 35, 38, Luke 19:41, Judges 10:16, Isaiah 63:9, Hebrews 2:11-18, 4:5, Psalm 31:7, 23:4, Jeremiah 31:20), takes no pleasure in death (Ezechiel 18:23, 32, 33:11) and does not afflict (Lamentations 3:33). He offers us a choice between life or death, blessings or curses. To choose life if to love the Lord your God, obey Him and stay close to Him (Deuteronomy 30:19-20). The ability to have and use personal freedom is what is called “image of God” in humans. Only humans are given this personal freedom of choice. Other creatures are governed by the peculiarities of their species to which they belong. We may ignore, disobey or be disrespectable in spite of bad consequences. Jesus told His disciples to pray for strength against temptation because “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
We have an enemy of our souls that we cannot see but he is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8). Satan is not the opposite of God, as if he had an equal standing with God, because God has no counterpart. God has no equal. Satan is merely an angel under God’s judgment. Satan attempts to have power over Christians but we are told, “Greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world” (1 John 4:4). Satan’s main goal is to tempt us to sin and keep us from believing in God. Knowing the weakness in us, Jesus prayed that the Father would keep us from the evil one (John 17:15). Paul warns us not to be ignorant of Satan’s schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11) but to recognize the lies as lies and believe totally on God in God and with God and that old serpent can do nothing but hiss. He hits you when you are down with; “God doesn’t really love you or you wouldn’t be having all these problems”. God’s Word says; “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you” (John 15:9, 1 John 4:10) and we are called the children of God (1 John 3:1). Satan tells you that your mistake is so bad that God will never forgive you. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Although Satan cannot force you to sin, he delights in taking the credit, clouding your thinking that God is depriving you from something. He will try and convince you that this present temptation is too much for you to resist. “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will provide a way out so that you can stand up under it” (1 Corinthians 10:13). Satan cannot read our minds but he can plant thoughts in our minds, therefore we must “take every thought captive according to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5). These thoughts will be negative thoughts about yourself or others and will be contrary to what God says about you, others and Himself. Check out what you are thinking with the Bible which is truer than anything you may think (Isaiah 40:8, Psalm 119:105). Resist the devil and you can stand up to any situation, any thought or feeling and turn to our Rock (Psalm 18:46), the One who loves us and guides us into all truth (John 16:13).
God’s angels were active in lives of believers in the Bible. In Daniel 6:22 we read that an angel shut the lion’s mouths when Daniel was in their den. In 1 Kings 19:5 they ministered to Elijah and more than once they delivered Peter from prison (Acts 5:19, 12:8-11). Fallen angels, with Satan as their leader will copy anything that God’s angels do. They will “false comfort” you by telling you what you have done is not so bad. If the devil and his angels can get you to believe this they can deceive you into continuing to live in this sin. He can program you to be defeated (John 8:44-47) and you have allowed him to out-wit you with his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11, 2 Timothy 2:26, James 4:7). The functions of God’s Word and prayer are to change mind sets. When we walk in truth, righteousness, salvation and faith there are no gaps in the armor (Ephesians 6:10-18). Guard your hearts (Proverbs 4:23), guard yourself in your spirit (Malachi 2:16b) so the devil cannot fill your heart and spirit with lies (Acts 5:3).
Satan and his demons can do only what God allows (Job 1:12, 2:6, Matthew 8:31-32) but they will take full advantage of this leeway. Satan will blind you to the truth (2 Corinthians 4:4), lead your minds astray (2 Corinthians 11:3), take you captive to so his will (2 Timothy 2:26) and harden you with sin (Hebrews 3:13). He does not force you to do any of these things but rather “talks you into it”. No one is tempted by God (James 1:13-15) but on occasion He will hand you over to the devil and let you do as you please (Romans 1:28-32). This is God’s discipline which is painful at the time but later produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it (Hebrews 12:11). Jesus suffered when tempted so therefore He understands our temptation and will help us (Hebrews 2:18). Death and trials are facts of life here on earth, but we are never alone! “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me……….and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (Psalm 23:1-6). “In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Neither will last very long because “You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes” (James 4:14).
JESUS IS COMING SOON!!!!
