dar334

Ad*ver*si*ty      (ədˈvərsədē)      noun       difficulties; misfortune

My daily Bible reading plan sent me to Job right smack dab in the middle of reading the book of Genesis.  Hats off to the ones who took it upon themselves to create a chronological plan, Job fits nicely smack dab ………………………… (thought process interruption by Tonya who shared with me her love of pears) ……………………………… Anyways …. between God causing the people to babel and God calling on Abram, we have the book of Job.

Job lived in Uz.  He was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.  He had quite a prosperous farm and a large number of servants.  He was, and I quote, “the greatest man among all the people of the East.”  One day Satan presented himself before the Lord and God asked him where he had been.  Satan told God he had been roaming throughout the earth.  The topic of Job came up and Satan said the only reason Job was so good was because God had blessed him.  Satan claimed that if God took away all he had then he would certainly curse God.  That’s when Job’s suffering began.  Satan killed Job’s entire family, his entire flock, all of his servants, he destroyed everything.  Job still did not curse God so Satan then afflicted Job with painful sores from head to foot.  Job still did not curse God, Satan had lost the battle.  God then restored Job’s health and restored his wealth to much more than he had before the test.

So often, especially recently, I have struggled with the reason for our continued testing.  Prior to the past couple years though, I didn’t consider them tests.  I can only assume we’ve passed each one since we seem to be advancing to even harder tests.  Graduation will definitely be a joyous celebration!

I’ve had the following excerpt from my study notes for Job 1:9 highlighted for several days and have often went back to it during difficult moments.  I’ve also stopped and said a quick prayer for those that do not seem to have deep roots.

Satan accurately analyzed why many people trust God. They are fair-weather believers, following God only when everything is going well or for what they can get. Adversity destroys this superficial faith. But adversity strengthens real faith by causing believers to dig their roots deeper into God in order to withstand the storms. How deep does your faith go? Put the roots of your faith down deep into God so that you can withstand any storm you may face.

Pondering is my safety harness.

dar