Day 004: Have You Considered my Servant? (Job 1:8)

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? Job 1:8

Through the Bible: Job 1-5

Job is one of the most perplexing books in the Old Testament. It asks A LOT of big questions, and unfortunately leaves most of them unanswered. Why do bad things happen to good people? If God is all powerful, He could prevent evil. If God is all good, He should prevent evil. So why doesn’t He?

Chapters 1-2 raise another question for me: If God is completely holy, and if evil cannot even exist in God’s presence, how is it that Satan is allowed to present himself before God in the first place?

Job is one of those books that invariably comes up whenever anyone is arrogant enough to say, “You know, when I get to heaven, I’m gonna have some questions for God.” (Sidenote—if there was a “God rolling His eyes” emoji, I would use it here).

For a book about questions, let’s not overlook the question God Himself has at the beginning of the book. Satan presents himself before the Lord. God asks Satan where he’s been. Satan says, “Oh, you know—just walking around on earth.”

And then, the question which sets up the rest of the book. God asks Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job?”

This would be the point where, if I was Job, I would want to say, “Lord, could you not mention me to the devil? I’m REALLY ok if Satan hasn’t noticed me. Let’s just let him do his thing, and I’ll do mine—k?”

Instead, God wagers His own reputation on Job’s response to suffering. Satan lays down a challenge. “God, let me mess with Job, and we will see how this so-called blameless and upright man responds to You. He praises You. Of course he does! Look how You’ve blessed him. But let me take away those blessings, and I’ll bet he blames You for it.”

And God says, You’re on.

For all the questions I might have about God, the one God has for me cuts me to the heart: could God stake His reputation on my response to suffering? Could God ever have the confidence in my character to point me out to the devil himself, and say, “Have you considered my servant James?”

Lord, today, let me be someone you could bet on against Satan, and win.