Fearing God for Nothing

 The account of Job's life and the troubles he experienced, as we read in the inspired Word of God, gives us a very spiritually revealing lesson. Many people have a hard time understanding this book, because they miss some of the keys to what happened. They can't understand why God would allow Satan to inflict such pain and loss on such a righteous man. This is because most people think that God always blesses those who trust Him fully, and He never sends trials or allows troubles to come to them. Nothing could be further from the truth. God does allow Satan to attack us, as believers, and He has a purpose for those temptations, and for the trials He sends to us Himself. If we read closely, we will learn a lot, and it will make sense to us and help us in our own lives. Let's start with one important key. When Satan came to appear before the Lord, which God allows him to do, God, Himself, pointed out Job to the devil. (Job 1:8,9) He asked Satan if he had considered His servant Job. God pointed out that no one else on earth was like him. He was a man of perfect integrity, who feared God and turned away from evil. What was Satan's response? He simply asked God a question, "Does Job fear God for nothing?" What do you think? The truth may surprise you, but once you understand it, the rest of the book will come together for you.

Yes, Job did fear God for nothing. God had blessed Job, so that he was very wealthy. He had blessed his family greatly. God had even put a hedge of protection around Job and his family, so that they were safe from harm. I think all of us would love to enjoy those types of blessings for us and our families. However, Job did not fear God because of the blessings or because he wanted more blessings. Satan thought that if God took away the protection and the blessings that Job would stop fearing Him and trusting Him. Is that what happened? No, it did not happen. Even though God allowed Satan to take his family and his possessions, Job still worshiped God and feared Him like before. These disasters did not cause Job to sin.  The reason Job remained steadfast in His faith in God and in his perfect integrity was that he feared God, because he knew He was Lord of all. He feared the Lord, because of who God was, not what God had done or would do for him. How about you? I pray we can all make the same profession. I pray that we don't trust God for blessings or for protection, but because He is God and He is worthy of all of our worship, no matter what happens to us or our world. When we get to that place in life, there is nothing that can shake our faith. We are ready to face anything or everything, just like Job did.

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Tomorrow, I intend to read Job 2-5.