I Never Lost My Praise

Job was a man who actually lived on this earth (he was not a mythical character), he was a man of great devotion to God; he was also a very rich man. He was a man who tried his best to avoid evil, Job was a family man; he was blessed with seven sons and three daughters. He was blessed with land, and cattle, and servants. Job had everything a man could ever want, he was successful, but he didn’t let his success go to his head. He knew that whatever he had and whatever he achieved was only because of God’s grace and mercy. But here in the text, the devil actually bargains with God to allow him to take away all of these blessings in order to cause Job to become discouraged.

There is something about praise that brings encouragement. When you begin to praise God, even in the midst of trouble, problems, and hurtful situations, it automatically makes you feel better. If you praise Him long enough, you'll be reminded that God is still in the blessing business. Even after the devil tries to discourage you. He uses the weapon of discourage with blessings.

DISCOURAGEMENT FROM PEOPLE

And the he uses the weapon of discourage from people. Have you ever been discouraged by people? I surely have and I am quite sure that I have discouraged a few people myself somewhere down the line. The devil’s efforts to discourage us often involve the ones we really care for and/or respect. He will use those people who you are around or close to be insensitive towards you, with words that will wound and leave you bleeding in your heart. He will use what you care about in order to break you down. I love the Word of God, and I truly love to preach but I’ve had some horrible things said to me and about me behind my back by a few preachers most of whom I dearly respect. Some of things they’ve said could have caused me to give up the pulpit all together, until I placed it in my heart that I am not preaching for their approval nor am I preaching for them to embrace me. I realized that I was called by God to preach and not by them. However, words can often be quite an effective weapon in bringing others down.

The devil is very crafty because he will use your very own family or your most dearest of friends to crush your faith, your trust, and your praise for the most High God. In Job 2: 9 we read, “Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? Curse God, and die.” Now let’s not become too angry with Mrs. Job because her counsel to her dear husband might have been born out of her deep feelings of pity and compassion. But, I hate to think of what would have happened to Job had he followed her advice. I believe that this blasphemy would have resulted in the immediate death of Job and at the same time it would have given the devil some bragging rights. It is interesting to note that Mrs. Job acted in a fashion similar to that of Eve, who encouraged Adam to sin against God. However, Job reacted differently than Adam, look at his response in verse 10 of the second chapter, “You talk like some heathen (foolish) woman. What? Shall we receive only pleasant things from the hand of God and never anything unpleasant?” (The Living Bible)