Reflections on the Book of Job 1:12 — Oh, Lord, Let Me Be Your Faithful Soldier

“And the Lord said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he (Job) has is in your power; only upon himself do not put forth your hand.’ So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.”  —  Job 1:12 (RSV)

I often include this line in my prayers (and my wife even included it in hers this morning before breakfast): “Thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve given me.”

All that God has given me includes, well, everything: my wife, my home, the food in my refrigerator; my refrigerator; the music playing on my radio as I type this; this computer; the language by which you are reading this; even you, dear reader.

The verse above, then, is tricky.

My goal in life, these days, is to use all of the above that God has given me (everything!) to glorify and honor Him. I make this my goal because I am committed to Him. Above all else! That’s what I’m talking about when I say, “Thank You, Lord, for all that You’ve given me!”

Yet here is God in this verse (flippantly, some might say) offering Job’s similar commitment as a toy for Satan.

It’s tempting to think “What a waste! What’s the point in honoring an arrogant god like that?”

Indeed, I’ve heard others respond to this verse (and the whole Book of Job) in such a way — and I’ll acknowledge that, at least a time or two, I’ve nodded in agreement.

Thanks be to God for guiding me to His view on this:

The key to tbe “trick” of this verse is to simply change that word “flippantly” (inserted parenthetically above) to confidently.

Let me try that now:

Yet here in this verse is God confidently offering Job’s commitment as a toy for Satan.

Ah, yes. That’s much different!  And much better!  God, after all, can only be confident in anything He does. Confidence is the defining characteristic of God, in fact.  Am I right?

Now that I have realigned my thinking to His point of view, I can see this verse for what it really is (as opposed to how Satan would like me to see it): it’s God the Father lovingly sending his son Job off to war with Satan, fully confident in his success.

Oh, that Our Lord could have such confidence in me!

Dear Lord, I Thank You, yet again, for all that is and for all You have given me (and all of us). Let me never forget that I really need is You!

Note: This is Post #1 in my “study” of Job. During this study, I intend to focus on a new chapter of the book each day, finding a single verse by which I hear God speaking to me, directly, about my life, and posting my (hopefully always humble) response. I pray that these posts will bring enlightenment and encouragement to you, dear reader, and I invite you to comment your own thoughts below. Building a new community of believers through this study — all of us supporting and encouraging one another, even from afar — would be a glorious thing, indeed, I believe!  Generally speaking, I plan to “go live” with these posts by noon (Central Time) each day, but I ask you to forgive my occasional deviations from that schedule (most of which I plan to announce in advance). Accordingly, I plan for my post for Chapter 2 to appear (God willing) at about noon on Friday, August 17.