When it comes to answering the tough questions of life, there are some individuals that have earned an infinite number of degrees just to learn how to intellectually not answer tough questions. They go around the bin a dozen times and split hairs like nobody’s business, and it’s all a lot of fluff. Colossians 2:8(NLT) warns us about allowing these folks to have influence over our lives. This verse says, “Don't let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.” As people who want to be grounded in the truth, we should only look to the Source of it, which is the One True Living God. There isn’t a question He can’t answer and a problem He can’t solve.
All of us are interested in knowing about the future, but probably one of the most puzzling questions of human history is why bad things can happen to good people. Scholars, theologians, and other intellectuals have pontificated about this for hundreds of years, but their intellect and sincerity are no guarantees for truth. If we’re interested in receiving the kind of revelation that unblocks our believing and plants our feet firmly on the path of life, we need to go to God’s Word.
The Old Testament Book of Job gives us the record of this righteous man, Job. God tells us in Job 1:1 (NLT) that “He was blameless—a man of complete integrity. He feared God and stayed away from evil.” Job was blessed and highly favored by God. He was wealthy and had lots of children who he loved dearly. By all accounts, Job was a good man, but some really horrible stuff happened in his life. Through his record, God sheds some light on why bad things can happen to good people.
Job 1:8-12 tells us that one day members of God’s heavenly court came to present themselves before Him and satan came in with them. In Job 1:7(NLT), our Heavenly Father asked satan where he had been, and satan replied, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.” Righteousness is a quality that comes only from God, and we can be certain that the integrity of Job and his allegiance to God put him on satan’s radar big time. It’s not a stretch to even say that the devil’s sole reason for coming into God’s courts was to accuse Job and gain permission to attack him.
Job indeed honored God, but he had gotten the holiness and thankfulness of offering sacrifices twisted with punishment and fear. This fear infiltrated his heart and was dominating his relationship with God. Job dearly loved his kids, but they were rowdy. They partied hard and could be disrespectful. Job feared that they might say something against God, and he incessantly offered sacrifices to Heavenly Father because of this.
Fear, doubt, and unbelief belong to satan’s realm. These do not come from God’s realm of love. 1John 4:18(ESV) tells us, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.” God is love, and there is absolutely no fear in the love He gives us, and there should be no fear in the love we have for Him. We should be clear that there is no part of darkness in love. Absolutely none. Fear cannot exist in the realm of love because love will demolish and cancel it out. Fear’s business is punishment, and God’s love doesn’t punish but lifts us higher.
2Timothy 1:7(NLT) also tells us, “For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” A spirit of fear is a spirit that doubts the truth of God’s Word, and God did not give us that spirit. If we have it, satan is the culprit, and wherever that spirit of fear exists, satan lays a legal claim to it, and he will seek a greater opportunity to use it against us.
Job’s fear was the door that satan opened to reap havoc on his life. Job lost his wealth, all his children died, and then he was struck with terrible boils from head to toe. Job thought that he had been tight with God and surely the Lord had mistaken him for some other who had not honored God in the way that he had. Job didn’t blame God for the terrible things that happened to him, but he wanted to have a conversation with the Lord. He told his miserable lot of friends in Job 13:3(NLT), “As for me, I would speak directly to the Almighty. I want to argue my case with God himself.”
Job had a certain way of thinking and believing, and left to his own devices, he might never have understood the kind of relationship God desires with His people. Job might have continued to teach his children that sacrifice is better than obedience, when 1Samuel 15:22 tells us the opposite is true. He thought that fear, and not love, could be the basis of our relationship with Heavenly Father, and this would have continually allowed the tricks and plots of the enemy to sabotage his life. Job was pretty dug-in with his way of thinking and operating, and a hard reboot was necessary.
Our Heavenly Father accommodated Job’s desire for a conversation, and He broke it down to Job in a way that only He could. One of the things we learn from their conversation is that we should always go to God for the truth. Many of us have listened to too many voices from those that are not connected to God through Jesus Christ. They think they know everything, and they don’t know anything about God or His love. We shouldn’t listen to them. Our Heavenly Father loves us and desires to have an intimate relationship with every individual. We are not as complicated as we may think. Deep questions often have very simple answers, and our Heavenly Father will make it clear if we earnestly desire to know Him and to know the truth.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
“Go to God for the Answers”, written for Springfield Fellowship © 2023. All rights reserved. All praise and honor to God through Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior.
Comments