"For those who love God, for those called according to His purpose, God works all things together for the good" (Romans 8:28). Someone asks, "Doesn't this deny the reality of Satan's attacks.?"
At first, these two things do not seem to fit together. God working the good for me, yet allowing Satan to attack me.
ENTER...the perplexing account (and biblical book) of Job. Have you read this lately? It will take your breath away. It almost did for Job.
What an incredible story. A man who had it all only to lose it all; all because God allowed Satan off the leash. Satan challenged God to take down the divine hedge of protection, and God agreed.
How could God be working for good as Satan mauls Job's life? All his children die. All his possessions are stolen. His vigorous health transformed into constant pain. His helpmate urges him to release his will to live.
What good is there in this? A strong, godly, community-blessing individual now sitting on a heap of ashes with nothing left than his next labored breath. Nothing good about this grief...and for 30+ chapters, he complains about it.
What good is God working out in this?
A GOOD PURPOSE IN ULTRA-SUFFERING?
What happened to Job often happens to God's children. Satan mauls and it hurts beyond description, and yet the sons and daughters of hte Almighty are to cling to Him by faith. To what end?
First, it is clear that God wanted his servant to learn that JOB'S TENACIOUS TRUST IN GOD WAS MORE PRECIOUS TO GOD THAN HE IMAGINED. His trust was not to be conditioned on whether or not God kept blessing him. His faith was being refined into an unflinching trust no matter what. Peter writes of this, "that your faith, more precious than gold, will result in praise and honor at the revelation of Jesus." God did want to prove Satan wrong. Job was not trusting in God simply because God was giving him a good life. Job learned to want God even more through the terrible trials.
Second, clearly God wanted his servant to learn that GOD IS SOVEREIGN and JOB IS NOT. At the end of the account, God finally answers all of Job's complaining with a flurry of questions which demonstrate the limit of Job's understanding and power, and the limitlessness of God's wisdom and power. Job is humbled by, and ashamed, of his complaining. God had the right to do whatever He wanted with Job's life, children, possessions, health. Job's accusations lacked the perspective of the full wisdom of God.
Third, God also desired to demonstrate through Job that TENACIOUS TRUST WILL BE FULLY REWARDED IN THE FUTURE. Job's losses were substantial and severe. The grief of them came close tto be overwhleming. But God's restoration of His servant's life was truly remarkable and joyful. As God would demonstrate in history, and will in the future, the "day of The Lord" begins with intense and short-lived judgment, followed by glorious and lont-term blessing.
WHAT ABOUT YOU?
There is much for us to learn in Job's experience, and we learn it better when we lay a verse like Romans 8:28 next to the good God in fact did through Satan's attack.
Has God let Satan off the leash into your life? God will manage the extent of the attack, and He has greater and good purposes He is accomplishing. Complain, pray, struggle...it's part of the process. But through it all, trust.
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