Lesson 4: Accept Your Suffering, Lament in Sorrow (Job 1:13-22).

Prayer

Reading

Job 1:13-22

Meditation

Not a single hair can fall from your head without the knowledge and permission of your Heavenly Father. Though Satan is indeed a mighty adversary—powerful beyond human comprehension—he is not supreme. Behind him, like an eternal and unshakable mountain, stands the Lord God Almighty, who reigns sovereign over all. Can a pebble be greater than a mountain? Can a cup of water be greater than the vast ocean? Can Satan overpower God? There is no comparison. The Lord reigns. He is robed in majesty, mightier than the thunder of great waters. He is the Ancient of Days.

Yes, you have a powerful enemy set against you, and yes, he may be allowed to cause you great harm. But never forget: it is God who remains the true and ultimate mover. It is God who ordained Job’s suffering, and what God ordains is always right. So it is, and so it will be, for you. Every iota of suffering you endure has been divinely orchestrated by God himself.

How much might you suffer? You could lose everything in this life. God does not promise to shield you from loss. He may take your family, your wealth, your health—just as he allowed Job to be stripped of everything. That in itself teaches us a hard but necessary truth: nothing we possess is truly ours to keep. Everything is from God.

Job understood this. When all was taken from him, what did he say? “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

Job never saw the heavenly exchange between God and Satan. He wasn’t privy to the spiritual reasoning behind his pain. But he knew this one truth with certainty: it was the Lord who gave, and the Lord who took away.

Everything you have is a gift from God—everything. You and I are not entitled to any of it. There is no room for saying, “This isn’t fair,” because in truth, fairness would bring divine judgment. If we were given what we truly deserve, we would stand condemned. So let us not grumble. Let us not speak as though God owes us something, as we are easily tempted to do at times. Instead, let’s give thanks. Every breath, every joy, every possession is an act of divine grace.

Yes, we will suffer in this life—and perhaps suffer greatly. Nothing is guaranteed to be spared. Not your health, not your children, not your job, not your money. Nothing is off the table. God will give, and God will take away, as he pleases. And through it all, he remains good. He remains sovereign. He remains God.

Be ye doers of the word...