I do not, of course, have “the answer” to the difficulties and uncertainties that are part of present day life, but I do have a response.
Suffering people have questions. “What have I done wrong, that I should suffer like this? How have I offended God?” God’s people, desperate for answers during times of hardship, have often turned for consolation to the Book of Job. Reading that ancient story, they discover that there may be a hidden drama unfolding on the stage of their own lives. Perhaps once again Satan has confronted God defiantly. “Yes, I’ve seen your servant Frank [or JoAnn or Leslie], blameless and upright. But does Frank fear you for nothing? You have protected him and his household. You have blessed JoAnn and her work. But You just wither those blessings and see if they don’t turn against You!”
God agreed to the testing of Job, and Satan was permitted to touch all that Job held dear, except his own person. In a single catastrophic day, Job lost everything: teams of oxen, donkeys, flocks of sheep, camels, herdsmen, servants, and even his children. Still, Job did not sin by blaming God. Modern Christians, studying this passage about Job, are encouraged to trust God through their own trauma and loss. “I serve the same God. The same devil is my enemy. I will prove myself faithful, even as Job did.”
Not satisfied with Job’s integrity in the face of ruin, Satan again taunted God. “Yes, Job could tolerate the destruction of everything around him. But just touch him in his own flesh, and he will curse you, I know it!” With God’s permission to do anything short of taking Job’s life, Satan struck Job with painful boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. The devastated man did not know that the tragedies of his life were brought about by Satan’s desire to provoke and embarrass and ultimately hinder God. He struggled mightily to understand the reason for his suffering.
We today have the advantage of perspective revealed in Scripture. Simply put, Satan wants desperately to hurt God. In the process, he collides with us. Having knowledge of this does not alleviate human suffering, but our trust in God is strengthened by the written account. From it, we lay hold of the firm conviction that God is fully and lovingly involved with us, even though we do not comprehend the mysteries of His lordship of the whole universe!
In this broader view of God’s governing lies one cause of the problem of Christian suffering. Ours is a tortured world, with all creation groaning and laboring with birth pangs until it finally sees the gloriously liberated people of God (Romans 8:19-23). “All creation”—that means our political leadership, our judicial system, our economics, our educational methods, our health care arrangement, our whole world is aching to be different. We limit our thinking, for the most part, to our own small world of family and friends, our personal health and economy, our place of employment, our church. Too often we notice society’s deplorable ills only to criticize, “It wasn’t like this years ago. How did we get to this place?” Like Job’s false friends, we presume to have answers. “It was this treacherous leader. . . It was that high Court decision. . . It’s the unconscionable media. . . It’s the failure of the schools . . .” And some even say, “It’s the Church’s fault.”
The doom-mongers would have us believe that all the above are true, and that all can be attributed to some vast conspiracy to subjugate the American people. Those who would never be intimidated by bold unrighteousness, the gloomy prophets say, are nevertheless being undermined by an insidious plot whereby eventually all people bow unknowingly to the will of ungodly authority. There is a master mind, they say, behind gratuitous violence on TV, the call to recognize same-sex unions, the legalization of abortion, the education of functionally illiterate students, the rising prices of fuel and food, and everything else that has gone awry!
Yes, unfortunately, there is a Master Mind behind it all. It is not, however, the leagued mind of evil men and women. No human mind could conceive the sorrow that has been unleashed on the world by the evil one whose sole desire is to thwart God’s purpose in His children. Listen as he approaches the throne of God.
The Lord speaks to Satan. “Where have you been?”
“Why, I’ve been going to and fro on the earth, walking back and forth on it.“
“Ah yes! And have you noticed My servants, the Blood-bought Church, that there are no others like them on the earth, blameless, upright, fearing Me and shunning evil?”
“Yes,” Satan replies, “I have noticed. But does that Church of yours fear you for nothing? Haven’t You made a hedge around them and their households and around everything that concerns them? You have blessed the work of their hands, and by honoring You their possessions have increased.” It may be that Satan has a different strategy for the Church in some other parts of the world, but for the prosperous Church in America, he taunts God, “I’d just like to see you stretch out Your hand and touch what these folks own, and they will surely curse You to Your face!”
What if God has given Satan permission to test us in just this way? “Behold, all they have is in your power. But don’t lay a hand on their persons.” Do we truly believe that “we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places”? (Ephesians 6:12)
If the battle could be won just by speeches and banner-carrying and letter-writing and electing God-fearing people to office, it would have been won by now. This is not to say that speeches should not be made, banners carried, letters written, and God-fearing people elected. But the passage noted above continues with the admonition to put on the whole armor of God and then “pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere.” (Ephesians 6:18)
Until we have done that, there is not a whole lot to be gained by all the other tactics.
MaryMartha
(All rights reserved)
Scripture quotations are taken from The Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. United States of America. All rights reserved.
Email: mrymrtha@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment