As I mentioned in the previous blog, my Wednesday night small group just started a study of the Book of Job. For those of us who are familiar with his story, we can relate to Job on some level. We may have even felt like we’re him on some days because things are so bad. It’s hard to compare to his story, first of all, because most of us don’t have the great wealth which was his. In a 21st century comparison, what happened to Job in one day would be like Bill Gates losing everything in 24 hours.
Even though our experiences may not directly compare to Job’s, many of us have gone through things which are equally devastating emotionally and spiritually. I am talking about circumstances which are so severe, they cause you to doubt God and question your faith. It’s in these times that we can spiral downward into deep despair and disappointment. I know how this works because I’ve experienced it myself.
Once we are able to recover from the initial shock of the bad news, what we do next is hugely important. Some people get stuck in a place of hopelessness. Color is sucked out of life, and everything becomes gray. It’s a fight just to keep up with what you have to do, and beyond that there’s little motivation for anything else. If you’re in that kind of place right now, I want to encourage you to consider this quote from Charles Spurgeon: “If the devil would drive us to curse God, let us bless him all the more, and Satan would be wise enough to leave off tempting when he finds that, the more he attempts to drive us, the more we go in the opposite direction.”
What Spurgeon is suggesting is big. In Job’s situation, the devil was convinced if Job no longer had the blessing and favor of God in his life (which had brought him great wealth and a great family), he would curse God. The word, curse, used in Job 1:11 (Note: Three days ago was 01.11.11) is better understood as blame. Satan believed Job would blame God for the shocking reversal in his life.
Now back to Spurgeon’s statement. Instead of blaming God, and giving in to a downward spiral of despair and disappointment, we should take this as an opportunity to bless God. If you’re in a season of struggle and suffering, you can deal the devil a black-eye by re-doubling how you live your love for God. Instead of less, do more. Love God more! Pray more, serve more, worship more, give more, sacrifice more, you get the idea. When the devil see’s that his efforts to “steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10) are causing you to do more for God, it will force him to reconsider his strategy. The devil was convinced Job would curse God. He didn’t expect Job to remain faithful, to respond with worship and to refuse to turn his back on God. In a similar way, the devil expects you and me to curse God. Introduce some adversity into our lives, and the devil expects you to back off in how you live your love for God.
Surprise the devil today by turning your trials and tribulations into an opportunity to do more in living your love for God.
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