“It wasn’t until then (after Josh’s Death) that I began to hate this story with a passion. What kind of God would do such a thing?! Did God want my kid dead too?”
Have you every been privy to part of a conversation, but later discovered that you only knew half the story? For instance, your husband calls and lets you know he has to work an extra shift to cover for a co-worker. You assume the co-worker called in sick, or maybe they were just slacking.
A couple of weeks later, you see the co-worker and realize your husband was covering because his co-worker’s spouse was in labor! You think, “Well, that was huge!” That puts a new dimension on the situation.
Sometimes, I feel that’s how God’s Word is. There are some things we are privy to, there are some things we won’t know this side of Heaven, and there are always many things that are being revealed through His Word. Sometimes, it just takes a while before we understand them, as He slowly reveals what was right in front of us all along.
We are not God, we will not understand all of His ways, but so often we attempt to take segments of conversations and announce that we know the full story. We make assumptions, based on our Earthly understanding and put equal signs where they don’t belong. Friend, we don’t know the full story… but we know the end. And, we know God wins.
The Story of Job
You may have heard the story of job before. It’s the story of a man who, in a very short period of time, loses his children, his belongings, and his health. His friends say hurtful things and his wife gives up. Alone and in pain, Job cries out to God asking Him a series of questions. In the end, God restores Job and gives him twice what he had before. You can read more about the story of Job here.
The Mysterious Conversation
If you’re familiar with the story of Job, you know that there’s a mysterious conversation between God and Satan which occurs before Job’s misfortunes. Unfortunately, Job is unaware of this conversation and remains unaware throughout the course of the book. The reader is never told if Job finds out about the mysterious interaction.
However, the reader feels, from the beginning, as if they know more than Job. In fact, from the commentaries of many, I get the feeling that many readers believe they know the full story.
So… here’s the conversation:
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan[b] also came among them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.” 8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?” 9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? 10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. 11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.” 12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
job 1:6-12
Let’s review:
- Satan presented himself to God right along with the sons of God. – Job 1:6
- God asked where Satan had come from, and Satan answered, “From going to and from on the earth, and from walking up and down it.” – Job 1:7
- God asked, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” – Job 1:8
- Satan asks if God has a hedge around Job and suggests that Job will curse God if Satan took away his blessings. – Job 1:9-11
- God tells Satan that everything Job has is his, but to refrain from touching his body. – Job 1:12
From this point in the book, we see Job’s life change drastically and instantly.
Assumptions, Questions, and Comfort from the Story of Job
I’ve heard various people throughout my life make assumptions about the mysterious conversation between God and Satan. Ironically, I took these assumptions as face value… as truth until my son, Josh died. In all honesty, they were presented to me as fact, and I never thought to question what was being said. It wasn’t until then (after Josh’s death) that I began to hate this story with a passion. What kind of God would do such a thing?! Did God want my kid dead too?
Read Related Post: Why Did My Child Die – {Questions for God}
Assumptions
One day, sitting with God, I realized… like Job that there’s so much we don’t know. In fact, we’ll never know this side of heaven. God comforted me and let me know that we (the reader) still don’t have the full story.
Here’s the main assumption I hear over and over again from the story of Job that is so often communicated as fact:
God allowed Job’s children to die because he wanted to prove to Satan that Job would not turn his back on Him.
This is a conversational assumption. Remember, the conversation about your spouse’s co-worker taking off work? You knew your spouse’s co-worker took off, but you were given limited information. In the case of God and Satan, many readers are making the mistake of connecting the facts we were given and drawing conclusions that may or may not be correct. This means we can’t call them fact. Friend, we don’t know why God allowed this turmoil. God never explains why… not even to Job.
“We are often so very aware of the catastrophes, but ignorant of the hidden grace.”
Questions
When I was sitting there pouting, God reassured and comforted me asking, “Who would it have been if it weren’t Job?”
Why had I never once thought about that before? Maybe that thought had never crossed my mind because when we call assumptions fact, we leave very little room for expansive questioning. When we think we know the whole story, so often, we are boxing God in. Friend, we cannot comprehend the mind of God.
So… let’s look at some questions from the conversation between God and Satan:
God asked where Satan had come from, and Satan answered, “From going to and from on the earth, and from walking up and down it.” – Job 1:7
1 Peter 5:8 explains that Satan, our enemy, prowls the Earth like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour.
Question – Did God already know where Satan had come from? Did He not know where Adam was when He asked him where he was?
God asked, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil.” – Job 1:8
Question – If God knew where Satan had come from, could this question possibly be taken as, “You have been considering my servant, Job. Haven’t you?”
Some scholars believe this is the true meaning of this question. Many others believe that God suggested Job as some sort of gamble to test Job’s loyalty. Here’s the truth: I don’t know what God meant by this. I wasn’t there. But, here’s what I know. God whispered to me that there’s grace in this story that we cannot see; grace I’d never questioned before.
Question – Where had Satan come from? Who was he seeking to devour? Was that person spiritually strong enough to withstand the coming attack? Was God mentioning Job as a form of hidden grace that the reader is not privy to, or was he just revealing to Satan that he knew his heart? If God had not allowed Job to be tested, who would have been devoured? Who would Satan had considered?
I guarantee neither they nor the reader know the answer. We are often so very aware of the catastrophes, but ignorant of the hidden grace. I don’t know the full story of Job. None of us do. But, I know there’s grace lurking around in this story. Some of it we see. But, I believe there’s some hidden grace walled behind our assumptions, seeking to be revealed.
“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” – Jer. 29:11
Comfort
Friend, there’s a lot I don’t know, especially about the story of Job. But, I do know one thing. God loves us. He is a good God, and His plans for us are good. Take comfort in knowing that we can go to God with our many questions. We can go to him with our pain and hurts and lay them down at His feet. He cares for us. ❤️
xoxo,
Rachel
© Rachel Blado www.OnTheWayToWhereYoureGoing.com All rights reserved.
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