There
is a power that the Bible calls Satan, the Accuser, the Evil One, and the
Devil. He is also called the
Father of Lies. When bad things
happen in our lives, Satan wants to use those events as an opportunity to
persuade us to doubt God’s goodness.
The
story of the first sin in Genesis tells us that the Father of Lies has been
with us from the very beginning, craftily putting in our minds the suspicion
that God does not really care about our happiness. In fact, the serpent in Genesis 3 suggested to the first
woman and man, “God is holding you back from becoming all that you could
become. You can’t trust God.”
This
doubt about God’s has infected all of us.
This lie about God’s character has separated us from God.
In
the story of Job, Satan says to God, “You have made Job prosper in everything
he does. Look how rich he is! But reach out and take away everything he has,
and he will surely curse you to your face!” The same Accuser, the serpent of Genesis 3, tries to prove
that a good person will turn against God when bad things happen.
The
question for us to answer for ourselves as we hear the story of Job is this: Do I love God for God’s sake or do I love God for what life
has given me? Another way of
asking the same question is, Do I unconditionally love and trust God even when
the worst happens in my life? Or
does my love for God depend upon the conditions of my life being good and
comfortable?
The
much-loved hymn, It Is Well with My Soul,
asks the question this way: Do I
love God “When peace like a river attends my way” and “When sorrows like sea billows roll?”
