ESOCS Devotional 1 October 2024 – When Life Hurts
MEMORY VERSE: “Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?”Job 1:9
TEXT: JOB 1:1-12
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. 2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. 3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
4 And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. 7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?”
So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? 10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.”
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord
Read Other ESOCS Devotional Here
One of the greatest difficulties in life is coping with suffering when it touches you and the people you love. Popular opinion says: “If you really love God and do your best to serve Him, your life will be free from suffering.” This notion has circulated for thousands of years, but it is dead wrong!
Sometimes, the opposite is true. Some of the greatest heroes in the Bible endured tremendous suffering. The same is true today. Some of God’s most precious people suffer the most. Take a look at Job Chapter 1. Here, we see a story about a man who was considered blameless (he did no wrong) and upright (he was respected by his community). He feared God and repealed evil. He had a good life, with many descendants, and much property, and was considered the “greatest man among all the people of the East.” There is an interesting aside, that he sacrificed for them to keep them “up to code,” just in case they had missed the mark somewhere along the way, Job was so holy that he even worked to help others stay on the up and up.
Satan showed up to tease God, to harass Him about the way that the people of Earth behave. And God accepts Satan’s challenge. It’s not clear immediately why, although, by the end of Job, it seemed to be that Job’s suffering may actually be used for God’s glory. God told Satan that he could do whatever he wanted to Job but he wasn’t allowed to kill him. In fact, Paul, who knew quite a bit about suffering, said, “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” (I Corinthians 10:13).
Job lost his cattle to marauders, and his children to a tragic house collapse. Satan petitioned God and was allowed to afflict Job’s skin with painful sores; his wife later urged him to curse God and die. Job had nothing left; and still, he refused to give up his faith in God. While some of us would not be inclined to respond like this, Job kept his eyes on the prize: he recognized that God loved him even if it didn’t feel like it. I wonder sometimes if I have Job-like faith. How bad could it get? What temptation could I face and how would I respond? Where would I turn to and how could I overcome whatever faced me?
- What would you do if you are faced with a temptation such as Job suffered?
- Lord, give me the strength to endure temptation and remain faithful, no matter what.
Further Reading: Proverbs 8:22-end; Luke 15:11-end; 1 Corinthians 12:1-11
ESOCS Devotional 1 October 2024
