Job 1-2 --Do Good People Suffer Trials?

Job 1-2 --Do Good People Suffer Trials?

Job 1:21-22 Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.

In the Book of Job we are introduced to a good man. Obviously, there has never existed a sinless man on the earth save Jesus Christ. But Job was a man that strived to please God. The Bible records that his life was completely devoted to his creator. He was a moral man and exhibited a reverential fear of God. Certainly, Job is one the be emulated in this respect. Oh that such would be our legacy! 

There are some today that claim that such righteous living ensures health, wealth and prosperity. This popular teaching states that godly living will eliminate any suffering or trials in this world. If an individual does suffer physically, relationally or materially, then they must be lacking somewhere in their spiritual lives. This Word of Faith Movement, also known as the ‘prosperity gospel’ puts emphasis on the power of the individual to ‘name it and claim it’ and you can have your hearts desire. 

A casual reading of the first two chapters of Book of Job soundly dismiss this erroneous teaching. Here we have a good man (as much as men are good), living a reverential, upright life. Yet, he suffers unimaginable loss. He lost all ten of his children and his livelihood in a matter of hours. Later he will be plagued with unimaginable physical suffering. Did he conduct himself in a manner to incur the wrath of God? Did he neglect his prayer life or forget to name it and claim it? The answer is clearly NO! Job was not in any manner privy to what was unfolding in the presence of the Lord. He had no say in the events that were unfolding in his life. 

Granted, we often suffer the consequences of our actions. The Bible teaches the concept of reaping what we’ve sown. However, there are times when we suffer trials and troubles that are not of our making. Sometimes we can do everything according to God’s standard any yet still be called on to endure tribulations. This should not come as a surprise. In John 16:33 Jesus said, “In the world ye shall have tribulation.” The good news follows when he says, “But be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” Our Savior certainly did not endorse the prosperity gospel. He was bluntly realistic about the suffering that occurs in His service. 

The Book of Job is about an upright man being tested. God indeed is not the author of sin, yet he sometimes allows trials to come into our lives. Peter acknowledged such:

1 Peter 1:3-7 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

Job would also later acknowledge this fact in his own circumstance:

Job 23:10 But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

The bottom line is that we have numerous biblical occurrences of the righteous suffering  while serving God. Experience teaches us this lesson also.The reasons are varied. Perhaps it is a test of faith. It could also be the result of a satanic attack or injury may come at the hands of another. We should expect such as long as we live in this sin cursed world. There will likely be instances of trials in which are absolutely unaware of the source. I believe that to be the case with Job. Our responsibility when such trouble enters into our life is to maintain a God honoring response in spite of the circumstances.  In the midst of his trials Job quickly acknowledged such in our opening passage.

The Word of Faith Movement/prosperity gospel falls flat when compared with the timeless truth of scripture. Perhaps we may never receive an explanation as to why we are going through a particular trial. If we suffer in spite of faithfully serving God, Lord help us to maintain our integrity and put our trust in the Sovereign God of Heaven and not charge Him foolishly!

Blessings, 

Michael D. Green, Jr. 

Fort Wayne PBC