“God Has Asked Satan To Spare Your Life!”

“God Has Asked Satan To Spare Your Life!”(Job 2:1-13).
Welcome to Day Eight Of Lent 2023.
Then came the next meeting in the heavenly realm. Again, God began with Satan. It is as if God is always wanting to dismiss Satan as early as possible before discussing issues of grave concern with the other angels.
God again brings up the matter of Job, maintaining his earlier position, adding that Job “still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Satan is never tired of trying. He seems not to accept that he is a failure; an already fallen angel! Satan replied God, “Skin for skin! A man will give all he has for his own life. But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Again God handed Job to Satan. “He is in your hands; but spare his life.”
Satan left and came down to earth. He inflicted Job with all kinds of sicknesses.
Job’s wife mocked him, “Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!” Job’s response to his wife is for me the core message of the book. “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” “In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.”
The great American Tennis player of blessed memory, Arthur Ashe died of AIDS. As his time was drawing near he co-authored the story of his life titled, “Days of Grace.” Somewhere in the book he writes that when he won international trophies and dinned with some heads of states he didn’t ask, “Lord, why me?” Now that he had been withering away from AIDS he shouldn’t ask, “Lord, why me?”
Yes, the God of good times is the same God of bad times.
Homer paid the same honour to the Divine when he wrote in “The Odyssey”: “Of all the creatures that breathe and creep about on Mother Earth there is none so helpless as man. As long as the gods grant him prosperity and health he imagines he will never suffer misfortune in the future. Yet when the blessed gods bring him troubles he has no choice but to endure them with a patient heart. The reason is that the view we mortals take of this earthly life depends on what Zeus, the Father of gods and men, sends us day by day.”
This may reflect Greek mythology, but replace the gods and Zeus with YAHWEH and it is the same thing happening to the biblical Job.
Three friends of Job heard about his predicaments and by agreement set out to go comfort him. While at a distance they hardly recognized him since he was so emaciated and deformed by sickness. They wept, tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads and sat with Job on the ground for seven days and nights.
These friends offered Job the best comforting words during these seven days as “No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.” Yes, speech is silver but silence is golden! We know how painful their speeches later turned out to be. When later on they spoke, their words became salt heaped on Job’s injury! They too like Job’s wife and Satan challenged Job’s integrity.
My friend, it is also in God’s plan to allow Satan to test you to see whether you can still keep your integrity; to fear God and shun evil. If you remain steadfast to the end, you will win a crown of glory and the LORD will multiply your blessings manifold.
Prayer: Holy Spirit help me to willingly accept both good and bad from God. Amen!
Have a blessed day! Peace be with you!
Rev Babila Fochang.