That Age Old Question . . . .

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.