We are aware of what God has done: He created the heavens and earth at His word; He established Israel as His people in a land He chose for them; He gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross to redeem fallen man from his sins; resurrected Jesus Christ gloriously; birthed the church, He gave the Holy Spirit in power at Pentecost.

We have a sense of what God is going to do in drawing the world, as we know it, to an end. We are convinced of an afterlife—eternity in the presence of God, or if we do not choose to follow God, eternity apart from God. What we are not sure of is, what is going on right now.

In the Old Testament book of Job, there is an account of a man named Job who was in a situation between Almighty God and the fallen angel, Satan. Job was a good and righteous man who pleased God. One day as Satan and God interacted about earthly things, the name of Job came up. God pointed Job out to Satan and how well he was doing. Satan countered by telling God that Job was doing so well because Job was basically God’s pet. Satan challenged God to back off from Job and allow him (Satan) to deal with him. So God, in essence, said okay (Job 1:12).

This entire story challenges our thinking, but something stands out that should cause us to draw up as close to God as possible. God never abandoned Job, but it seemed touch-and-go at times.

When Satan moved against Job with God’s permission, we see some very interesting things going on. The first is that Satan moved the “Sabeans” to raid Job’s herds, steal his oxen and donkeys, and kill his servants. The second thing that happened is that somehow Satan commandeered the “fire of God from heaven” (Job 1:16) which devoured all the sheep and the shepherds, save one. Next, it was the Chaldeans whom Satan stirred up to steal all the camels and kill the camel herders (v. 17). And, finally, in this round, Satan called in a “great wind” that destroyed the house where all of Job’s children were gathered and killed all of them.

We could accept that the Sabeans and the Chaldeans were just being outlaws and dismiss it as routine raids. It is a little more difficult to accept the fact that somehow Satan had access to the fire of God from heaven and to a destructive wind. All of this could cause us to see life from a precarious vantage point.

What do we do when we follow God fervently and yet God allows Satan to move against us? We do what Job did; we stick with God regardless of what it looks like. Satan was granted some temporary power against Job. Job stayed with God and was delivered. No matter what it looks like, Almighty God is the best choice for us.

 

Dan Puckett works with road team operations at Life Action Ministries in Buchanan, Michigan.