7 So went Satan forth from the presence of the LORD, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown.
8 And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes.
9 Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.
10 But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips. Job 2:7-10
Sometimes we look at the Word of God and we think, “That’s easy. I can do that.”
But it is impossible to see, much less do, the will or plan of God. It is only when we have been granted grace by God Himself that we can do His will.
So we can see that Job was granted the grace to see and do God’s will. He told his wife:
“What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”
Job, full of the grace of God, realized that ‘evil’ is a part and parcel of the life that a spiritual person must pass through.
The Spirit-less man only wants the good things of this life. That is why the charismatic gospel is so popular. It is popular because people do not like the spiritual life, with all the suffering it entails. But the charismatic gospel has destroyed people’s spiritual lives. Under this gospel, people go to church to be blessed, to receive financial, material and physical blessings.
It is true that when our Lord Jesus Christ was here on earth, He gave all those blessings. But one day, He turned to the very people He had been giving these things and we read in John 6:53:
“Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.”
Jesus was speaking about sharing in His sufferings and death! He was telling the Jews, “You must partake of my sufferings and death to become true children of God as I am.”
And this was what Job saw in the Spirit. And this formed the basis of His faith. That is why Job’s book is called The Book of Job, and not the Book of Job and his Wife. Job’s wife did not see what Job saw in the Spirit.
It is a grace to see
“Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” (1 Cor. 2:2)
This is something that the flesh cannot comprehend. That is why we must beware in our spirits when all we want is the good life; and we cannot see God’s hand when suffering is allowed into our lives.
It is a grace from God to share in the sufferings of Christ. This is what forms the basis of our spiritual lives.
The good life is only a shell of the real spiritual life that we ought to live.
[For Sandra]
Cross of Christ 