What Are You Clinging To?

We are not moving from this part of Job’s journey just yet.  We still have some examining to do …..there are still a few angles left unchecked.

Let’s read this from another translation, the NAS and I will emphasize a few things:

Job 2

AGAIN there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them to present himself before the Lord. 

This does not sound as though Satan was excluded but it does elude that he was not sent an invite.  He was a party crasher!

And the Lord said to satan, “Have you considered My servant Job?  For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil.  And he STILL hold fast his integrity although YOU incited Me against him to ruin him WITHOUT CAUSE.

We see that satan did not speak first.  Which does not surprise me, every deceptive person speaks after they get what they came for.  I do love the way that the Lord made a public spectacle of satan offering Job up in character and hitting it home by stating “and He still holds fast his integrity”.  I admire how he is able to state the snare of satan and keep his cool.  Did you notice he didn’t get confrontational at all?  This is what I mean when I state “The truth does not have to be defended, it is simply the truth!”

God tells us not to enter into arguments with fools.  He tells us not to give pearls to swine.  But he does tell us to speak His truth to everyone.  He tells us that we are to hold others accountable but leave vengeance to Him and Him alone.  He promises that He is a just and loving God.  I believe Him what about you? 

Satan however is always going to act in line with his character so he has to incite God again stating:

Skin for skin!  Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.  However, put forth THY hand, NOW, and touch his bone…and his flesh…he WILL curse Thee….TO THY FACE!

He is saying come on God you know this will push him over the edge……test him…come on …..you know you want to do it.  Listen to his arrogance, it is despicable!  If he will treat the Lord God Almighty in this way you know he will not hold back any sucker punches with us! 

But “thank God” God is God.  He simply stated to satan:

Behold he is in YOUR power, only spare his life.

God reiterated that he did not have to do a thing, satan had the power if he could manipulate Job and He was not getting involved in acting so unloving toward someone He loved so.

Let’s look again now at what Job’s wife stated: 

Do you still hold fast your integrity?  Curse God and die!

What I find so15 fabulous here is how Satan had used his wife as a mouth piece, look how blatant he is.  The very thing that God said Job was holding fast to …..what was anchoring his steadfastness is what satan flung at him.  He is trying to push him like he did God by saying…..come on just drop your integrity in God, you know you want to …….it will feel SO good ……just this once ….what harm will it do……and your own flesh and blood the one you are united with in God is telling you to just forget about it!

I would like to end this today asking you to think about what it is you hold fast or cling to when the pressure is on and you are in crisis. Be careful that it is not a spouse, heavens knows they leave people all the time, they do not honor their commitments to God to love us and forsake others……till death do us part.  (Not to say that you should stay with someone who is abusive in any way, they were not honoring their commitment to God from the get go.  This is a generic statement at best okay…..) and we will get to the friends in a few days.  We should be clinging to our faith in the one who will never leave us nor forsake us.  Yet we are not to be islands.  We are to be interdependent, we speak of this all the time.

1 Corinthians 15:1,2

Now I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached to you, which also you received, in which also you stand by which also you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached to you unless you believed in vain.

I pray that each of us receive the full measure of that which Christ died to afford us.  And I pray that we not weight the balances of our actions but in all ways look to Him who perfects us and disciplines us as loved children.

With the love of our Christ,

Candace