Trouble and Difficulty

“And Satan answered Jehovah and said, Does Job fear God for nothing?” (Job 1:9)

When God boasted about Job, saying, “...because there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and upright man, one who fears God and turns away from evil” (Job 1:8) Satan responded saying that it was not for nothing that Job was perfect and upright because God had blessed him. (Job 1:9,10) And so God allows satan to test Job’s righteousness.

When tribulation comes our way, right away we think we’re being punished for not being faithful to God, for sinning, for slothfulness in our Christin practice or for a myriad of failings in our lives. But we need to remember that God is not punishing us for our sins and failures to Him. We live in an age of mercy and grace because of the New Covenant in Jesus. He took our punishment. He took our death. God isn’t doing that to us. But at the end of time, the Great Tribulation is coming in which there will be punishment for those who have refused God’s marvelous gift of forgiveness, for those who refused to believe in Jesus and for those who have hated God.

But tribulation does come our way. What is that all about? First, Jesus warned us. “I have spoken these things to you so that you might have peace in Me. In the world you shall have tribulation but be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) We will encounter difficulty just living in this world and that is because satan who is the destroyer, a liar and a thief, works to steal anything good that we have in our lives. He lies to us about who we are and our worth to God. His objective is to destroy us. “The thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy. I have come so that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10) Satan is the prince of this world. Paul in writing to the Ephesians about our lives before Jesus mentions that we behaved according to the spirit that works in the children of disobedience “And He has made you alive, who were once dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now works in the children of disobedience; among whom we also had our way of life in times past, in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the thoughts, and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.” (Ephesians 2:1-3) That spirit that works in the children of disobedience is the prince of the power of the air and is satan who works havoc in our lives. Of course, there is also trouble and consequences that come from our wrong decisions and actions.

The things we learn from the book of Job is that Job’s tribulations and misery didn’t come from any sin he committed. It wasn’t even a consequence of any wrong decision or choice he made. It wasn’t God who was punishing him. It was satan. But reading carefully, we learn that God allowed it. Satan accused Job before God and God allowed satan to touch his family, touch his wealth and touch his health.

In the book of Revelation, satan is revealed as the accuser of the brethren. Can you imagine the things he’s telling the Father about us? And he’s doing this day and night. “And I heard a great voice saying in Heaven, Now has come the salvation and power and the kingdom of our God, and the authority of His Christ. For the accuser of our brothers is cast down, who accused them before our God day and night.” (Revelation 12:10) He’s accusing us just like he did Job. But Jesus our high priest is before God interceding for us, advocating for us, literally showing the Father that we belong to Him because He died for us. He shed His blood for us. We are not guilty of the sin. The sin debt was paid in full by His death. Job didn’t have Jesus yet. Jesus came thousands of years after he died. His salvation didn’t come until Jesus died for the sins of all those who did right according to the Law and for those in the New Covenant who believe on Him. So it’s satan who works havoc in our lives, not God. “Blessed is the man who endures temptation, because having been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. Let no one being tempted say, I am tempted from God. For God is not tempted by evils, and He tempts no one.” (James 1:12-13) The word tempted was translated for the original Greek word meaning tested. It’s not God who brings evil into our lives. God is Good and doesn’t have evil to mete out.

We suffer tribulation because we live in this world. God can prevent it, but He uses it to glorify Himself. How does He do this? Whatever trouble and hardship that is not due to our wrong actions or choices, is caused by the enemy and allowed by God. What we must remember is that God is for us and not against us. He is always allowing what is good for us. Difficulty and hardships test our faith. “My brothers, count it all joy when you fall into different kinds of temptations, knowing that the trying of your faith works patience.” (James 1:2-3) We don’t like hardships and difficulties and although they don’t come from God, God allows them to test our faith. God knows all things, but we don’t. We say we believe that by His stripes we are healed. “He Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that dying to sins, we might live to righteousness; by whose stripes you were healed.” (1Peter 2:24) Yet when we are sick, our words betray our doubt and unbelief and we speak death to ourselves, saying such things as maybe, “My back is killing me.” We believe God will meet our every need. “But my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:19) Yet we complain that we don’t have a thing to wear, or nothing to eat. We believe that if we tithe, God will multiply it and open the windows of heaven that we won’t be able to hold all his blessing. Yet we skimp giving to God. Our words and actions betray our doubt. But if we will in the face of trouble, tribulation and difficulty declare boldly His Word, believe it, trust God in God’s faithfulness to His Word and do it, we will be victorious. We can trust in Who God is. He is Healer. He is Provider. He is Good. He is Love. God will be glorified for His faithfulness, to His Name and to His Word.  

So regardless if the accuser is accusing us before the Father, day and night, Jesus is there interceding for us. And God may allow difficulty to come into our lives, but we will be victorious. “But in all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us.” (Romans 8:37) And the struggle we conquer, works for our eternal good. We learn to trust fully on God, to know without any doubt that His Word is Truth and that all things are possible with God. And more than that through each difficulty we have gone from glory to glory, to glory to glory, each time being made more in the image of Christ. “But we all, with our face having been unveiled, having beheld the glory of the Lord as in a mirror, are being changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Lord Spirit.” (2Corinthians 3:18)