Saturday, March 14, 2009

Trials and Temptations

I just returned from the Saturday morning Men's Fight Club. We meet at 7:30 am every Saturday in the church Cafe' to study the Bible and encourage one another. Our name is derived from Nehemiah 4:14, "Do not be afraid of the enemy, remember your Lord is great and awesome. Go fight for your brothers, your sons and your daughters, your wives and your homes!" I am encouraged each week by the men who come out at such an early hour on their day off to learn the fundamentals of Christian warfare.

Today our study began in the book of Job. Several questions surfaced as we read the text. Let me share some of them with you and hopefully you will be able to add fodder to the discussion as well.

First, "God told Satan, have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil"(1:8). God speaks very highly of Job, does He not? My question is, "What would God say about you?"

Second, in 1:6-7 the text states "that Satan presented himself before the LORD and God asked, where have you come from? From roaming the earth, and going back and forth in it." The question: does Satan still have face time with God today?

Third, there is the statement from verse eight, "Then the LORD says to Satan, have you considered my servant Job?" The question: Does God still strategically (intentionally) use Satan in the maturation process of men's lives? Does God summons Satan as a resource to foster Christ-centeredness in a man's life? What say you to these questions?

I think often times we miss growth opportunities because we are "fighting the devil," so to speak. Our mental and emotional energy is spent on trying to figure out why God is permitting Satan or circumstances to go a certain way; spiritually we can become exhausted binding the Devil and battling demons in prayer and in keeping our faith up; educationally and physically we can often times give ourselves to extremes in strategizing and thwarting the plan of Satan or attempting to prevent crisis from coming in our lives that it distracts us from the teaching/growing moments with God.

Maybe the lesson for us from Job is, we give the Devil too much credit for orchestrating the pain and trials in our lives. Maybe the only real influence he has in our day to day existence is what God has intentionally planned to conform us into the image "likeness" of Jesus Christ?

I think "Hell" for Satan today could possibly be (1), not being able to do what he wants (kill, steal and destroy) and (2), in knowing that God is using him (Satan) for the good of His people. Did not the Apostle Paul say something about "God using all things for the good for those who love Him and are called according to His purpose?" (Romans 8:28-29)

Let's keep Christ preeminent in all things! I hope to hear from you. Thanks for stopping by!
--------
Adrian

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