Job syndrome

Ever thought about how out trials & tribulations are really just  "Job Syndrome?" When we think of Job, we automatically consider his losses. When we go through trials, we throw around the phrase "I fee llike Job, everything is falling apart." But there are some significant things to notice about the story of Job:

http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Job+1&version=KJV

"And the Lord said until Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is non like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth Go, and escheweth evil? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth JOb fear God for nought? Hast not thou made a hedge about him, and about his shouse, and about all that he hath on every side? thou has blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in tihe land. But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the LOrd said until Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in they power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand."
Job 1:7-12

In verserse 13-19, in a matter of hours, maybe minutes, Job lost his servants, his animals, his crops, and his children. Each time a messenger came with bad news, the next messenger arrived "while he was yet speaking". Now I'm certainly not a Biblical interpreter, but as I read that, Job didn't have a chance to resond to one tragedy, or grieve, before the next one hit.

"Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground and worshipped, and said Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord h ath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. In all this Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly."
Job 1:20-22


Two things really stand out to me:
1. God pointed Job out to Satan - Satan didn't go looking for him
2. After he lost everything, Job worshipped.

In chapter 2, God again points Job out to Satan. When Satan is given permission to strike Job's body, Job's wife advises him to curse God. Here Job says "shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?" 2:10

So many times when we have prayed about circumstances, we start to see answers.When those answers turn out just the wya we wanted,  our hearts fill with praise. And we even go so far to say things like "things are finally turning around"

What do we mean by that? We think our trials are coming to an end?! God is always working in our lives, and  in those "turn around" moments we tend  feel His peace and blessings a little more closely.

The bottom line is that Satan isn't going to take those blessings lightly. I Peter 5:8 plainly tells us:
"your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour"
God's blessings in our life do not make us exempt from Satan.
Satan is still tring to prove his own Job theory - he wants to prove that if he can push the Christian on hard enough times they will "curse God and die"

When Satan is allowed to pull the rug out from under us, God simply asks, "Do you still trust Me?"

That is not always an easy question to answer. Sometimes, we can lift our hands, and say "Yes, Lord, I'll praise you in this storm" and other times, we feel sorry for ourselves and wonder how God could possibly allow such troubles in our lives. Like Job's friends, we start to wonder what great sin we've committed that brought such destruction.

Sometimes, God has to knock us from our high horse and ask us in a whirlwind, "Where wast thou when I laid  the foundations of the  earth?" Job 38:4

That's when we need to be like Job, and confess to God "I know that thou canst do every thing, and that no thought can be withholden from thee." Job 42:2

Do you know God can do everything? Do you know God hears every thought and cry of your heart? Do you trust Him?