So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. Job 2:7
During our daughter’s preteen and adolescent years, her favourite expression used to be ‘It’s not fair!’ As a girl growing up in a busy family, she would often encounter situations that seemed to her to be unfair, whether it was the clothes she was expected to wear, the places where we wanted her to go, or the requirements we would put on her for school, or any of a hundred different situations. Many of us feel life is unfair in many ways. It doesn’t seem right that we have to endure painful or costly situations while others around us are not affected. We see situations where we try our best but fail while others coast through successfully with little or no effort. We make the discovery that life is not fair. Surely, Job would have cause to cry out against the unfairness of his situation. Satan had slandered Job before God and God allowed Satan to test Job. It had nothing to do with what Job deserved or rated. You and I also encounter situations where we need to recognize that God may be acting in ways that are beyond our understanding.
Did Job deserve those boils? Of course not! But when we look at the big picture, we see that God honoured Job’s integrity and eventually gave him twice as much blessing as he had before. In the long run, Job did not lose out. We need to realize that, if we are faithful to God, we will not lose out, even if it seems like we do. What about the Christian who loses his job for refusing to take part in a dishonest activity? Or the Christian whose business suffers for refusing to support an immoral demand from a homosexual organization? Is it fair? Not as the world deems fairness, but God’s higher purposes are beyond our ability to know, and we need to bow to His sovereign will.
Few of us will ever be tested as severely as Job was, even though it seems like we are sorely tried at times. Job came through the trial with his faithfulness to God intact. It is important for us to do the same. We will not be the losers for it. -Jim MacIntosh