Just finished a book called radical discipleship based on the life of Hudson Taylor, it’s the book I read on honeymoon… This is not a copy and paste job, I’m going to type out some thoughts from hudson’s notebook as he reflects on the book of Job. His thoughts really summed up what I had wrestled with a couple of years ago as I looked at the book.
The story of Job is about a guy who’s experiences has rocked my theology to the ground and rebuilt the foundations of my faith and now I can see the God who delights in His children’s faithfulness and calls us to depend on His more clearly and with more love!
Going to do this over three blogs this first one looking at the intro of the book and that central verse “does Job serve God for nothing”
“The veil is taken away from the unseen world and we learn much of the power of our great enemy, but also his powerlessness apart from the permission of God our Father.
Satan would very frequently harass the believer in times of sorrow and trial leading him to think that God is angry with him.
But our Father delight to trust a trust-worthy child with trial. Take the case of Abraham: God so trusted him that he was not afraid to call of upon hid servant to offer up his only son. And in the case of Job, it was not Satan that challenged God, but God who challenged Satan to find any flaw in Job’s character. In each case grace and patience and fidelity were rewarded.
The replay of Satan is noteworthy. He had considered God’s servant and evidently knew all about him. The arch-enemy found all his own efforts ineffectual to harass and lead astray God’s beloved servant. He found a hedge around him. How blessed to be so protected.” (just like we are!).
“Satan having found no fault in his character or life, insinuates that’s it’s out of selfishness. “Does Job fear God for nothing?” and indeed he did not as satan well knew! Nor has anyone before or since. There is no service that pays so well as the service to our heavenly Father. Satan is making a true assertion, the insinuation that it was for the sake of the reward that Job served God was not true. And to vindicate the character of Job himself, Satan is permitted to test Job. And soon Satan shows the evilness of his character by bringing disaster after disaster upon the devoted man.”
2 more blogs to come!
Standing on Grace
andy lamberton 