That age old question. . . .
For centuries many of God’s children have questioned the benefit of serving or following God. To some of you that statement may sound ludicrous; but we can go back as far as the mass departure of the Children of Israel from Egypt to their journey in the wilderness and find the intentions of God being questioned. Even today you can find over and over again that age old question surfacing to the forefront in many of the Christians’ minds “What am I gaining or benefiting from all of this hardship?” Is it really worth all of the trouble? A question even Job asked.
If you consider the deliberate craftiness and cunning manipulative way Satan maneuvers his schemes into the lives of God’s children the question seems to be a valid one. Especially to the questioner who ask with a sincere heart. All of us can think back and remember a time when the direction of our spiritual lives weren’t going the way we felt is should and it made us wonder “is all of these test and trial we are going thru really worth it.” When this type of questioning begins to run through a Christian’s mind he (mankind) is beginning to wonder if life wasn’t better when he lived according to the ways of the world; or he may see his life as being just as bad as it was when he was in the world. In either case, this is nothing but a clever strategy being used the enemy (Satan).
To get better understanding of this concept lets look in the Book of Job.
Job 1:6-12 Amplified Bible (AMP)
6 Now there was a day when the sons (the angels) of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan (the adversary and accuser) also came among them.
7 And the Lord said to Satan, From where did you come? Then Satan answered the Lord, 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, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns evil [because it is wrong]?
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, Does Job [reverently] fear God for nothing?
10 Have You not put a hedge about him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have conferred prosperity and happiness upon him in the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But put forth Your hand now and touch all that he has, and he will curse You to Your face.
12 And the Lord said to Satan (the adversary and the accuser), Behold, all that he has is in your power, only upon the man himself put not forth your hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
Although God mentioned Job by name first, don’t thing it was the first time Satan had considered Job. Oh no, in Job 1:10 Satan asked God, have You not put a hedge around Job, his family and his belongings on every side. Satan had already targeted Job; this is why he knew God had put a hedge around him (Job). Through his examination of Job Satan knew there were no openings for him to get to Job, remember he said “on every side.” Because of what Satan knew he felt Job was off limits to him; this is why in verse 11 Satan suggested to God to put forth His hand and touch all that Job had. In this same verse Satan revealed his arterial motive for wanting to get to Job (and to all of us for that matter) “. . . . . and he will curse You to Your face.”
Everything Satan does to God’s children is for the sole purpose of getting us to the place where we will renounce God and not want Him in our lives. He (Satan) wants to get us to the place where we turn our backs on God; he does this by making us believe there is no benefit to serving God. One day I was in my car pondering over some situations that had arose in my life; as I begin to mentally take a good hard look at everything that was going on all of a sudden it was like a light bulb had come on; Satan was trying to push me into hating my spiritual walk, hating the decisions I had made that were in line with the will of God for my life. My daughter was in the car with me and I said to her Satan is trying to make me hate my life. It was at that very moment God began to reveal some very profound things to me concern Satan, Himself (God) and mankind (God’s creation). I will try to highlight the parts that impact our lives as Christians.
God said to me when I made the comment to my daughter “that is what Satan wants, his goal is to make mankind hate its very existence.” Then God said “He receives glory when He looks down on mankind, because mankind is His creation. He said when “He sees mankind walk it glorifies Him because He created that . . . when He sees mankind talk and interact in this world it glorifies Him, why, because He created that . . . .,” then He went on to say this same thing is what Satan hates; when he looks at mankind it reminds him that creation is the one thing he can not do, Satan can not create. Now lets use wisdom, God is not glorified when the abilities He has given mankind are missed used, but He is glorified over what He (God) has given mankind.
Keep in mind, everything Satan does have to be done through God’s creation. So since God loves His creation so much Satan is determined to make the very thing God loves turn against Him; he wants to make mankind despise being created. To despise the creation is to have contempt for the Creator.
How does this fit in with the question “are all of these test and trials really worth it” I must say, Yes it is. Not because of money, cars, houses and land; NO, because every time Satan attempts to make our lives hard, undesirable, miserable and we decide to stand our ground to love and rely on God our Father it glorifies God. Every time the Lord asked Satan had he taken into account His servant Job; Job- the one who trusted God, relied on God, the one the Lord was able to boast about “have you consider my servant Job.” The Lord was expressing His faith in the loyalty of Job and because of that loyalty the Lord knew Job would not turn his back on God. Although Job did not understand why things had taken a turn in his life, nor did he understand what it meant; he still was going to stick with God.
Job 2:3
3 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, one who [reverently] fears God and abstains from and shuns all evil [because it is wrong]? And still he holds fast his integrity, . .
Our salvation is all about the love of God, and how much He loves and wants us, His children back in relationship with Him. It’s about Him doing whatever it took to give His creation a chance (if desired) to come home to Him. It’s about glorifying God. It is about an eternal life not a temporary one. Is the test and trials of this life worth it, yes they are, if they weren’t Satan would not be trying so hard to do his thing.
Although Job questioned the benefit of serving God, he still refused to turn his back on God. He, like many of us at times has felt the wicked or evil ones were receiving the better end of the deal. It looked as if we, God’s children, were having all of the hardships and the wicked ones were continuing to prosper, living the good life. This is what the enemy (Satan) wants us to believe, so we will turn back to our old way of living. Job did not understand that the hardships he was facing were premeditated and directed especially at him by Satan. He did not understand that those hardships had a mission and a purpose to fulfill set by Satan. He didn’t understand that those hardships were aimed at his relationship with God.
Oh no, but there came a time when Job was able to separate his relationship with God from his circumstances, something all of God’s children need to learn to do. Why, because no matter what our circumstance and situation are God is still God. He always has been and He will always be . . . . He is the same God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elisha, Elijah, David, Peter, John and Paul; just to name a few. Our situations don’t speak less of who God is. There are many of God’s children who don’t understand a godly life will bring about test and trial simply because of our relationship with the Father, just as a godless life will bring test and trial because of the lack of a relationship with the Father. The difference being one is used to draw us to God and the other is used to draw us from God. There is a place in all of our spiritual walks that we as the children of the living God must come to; that is a place of understanding that hearing about God is not enough but seeing God with the spiritual eye is where we all must be. This is what Job said when he reached that place:
Job 42:5 Amplified Bible (AMP)
5 I had heard of You [only] by the hearing of the ear, but now my [spiritual] eye sees You.
