GOD'S GIFTS

When someone gives you a gift, you assume that they like you. That they gave you a gift is a sign of acknowledgement. We apply this same theory to God, assuming that he gives gifts to those he likes, so that if you are lacking in something, many view it as a sign of God's disapproval. The Bible states that Job was a righteous man, but to many people, obviously not well-liked by God given the many hardships he endured. Difficulty, hardship and pain are never ever from God. Perhaps the Book of Job is worth explaining as a backdrop to this Blog post.

As stated in the Bible, Job was a very righteous man. However, his children's focus was material wealth, parties, and living the good life. Job feared for them, became obsessed with their spirituality, and regularly offered sacrifices on their behalf. Satan targeted Job and his family and wanted to destroy them all. He had no power to take Job's life, but he had authority over the life of Job's children who did not acknowledge God. Job's fear attracted the thing he feared and his children were all killed in a tornado. It was Satan's idea to attack Job. God did not make a deal with the devil except to say, "You cannot take Job's life because he has done nothing at this time that would give you authority over his life."

Satan's response was to take Job to the point of deep despair. God could not prevent the disaster brought about by Job's fear and his children's lifestyle, but he pulled Job out of the miry pit by giving him many more children and more wealth that he had ever had. God does the same for us when Satan tries to take us to the depths of despair. He shows up and stops the disaster at whatever point at which our faith has given him authority to stop it. He then proceeds to make up for the pain we endured at the hands of Satan.

One might question why it took 41 chapters describing Job's deepening disaster before God eventually blessed Job with more children and more wealth. While God never sends disaster into our lives, his gifts are always "good" gifts, perfectly timed, and designed to draw us into a deeper, more vibrant relationship with him. It took 41 chapters for God to act because any earlier action would have stunted Job's spiritual growth, and perhaps caused a similar derailment in his family life at a later point in time. Both God and Job knew that Job needed to work through this crisis in a methodical manner not only for his personal spiritual growth, but also that of his wife and his friends who, through Job's experience, also saw their need for repentance.