But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face. Job 1:11
Why have I been speaking about Job over the past few months?
Like Job, the Church finds itself under a similar attack and in similar turmoil.
What was the reason for Satan's attack on Job?
He sought to destroy Job's faith. Using a far different strategy to his manipulation of Eve, he needed the same outcome. That is, to get Job to question God and lose confidence in Him.
Today, he uses strategies on us to achieve the same outcome of unbelief and lack of trust.
During Satan's attack and Job’s trial period, Job's life looked like a trainwreck. Satan stopped at nothing except God's Word not to kill him. Otherwise, Satan would have done that as well.
With the chaos in people’s lives, it may appear as if Satan is winning. But the Lord is calling us to patience, not panic. Although it may seem that disorder is around us, the Lord asks us not to look at the apparent confusion in the Church. He is in control, though some may tend to think otherwise.
When a house is in the building, there is often clutter left around the workplace. God's Church is still in the building stage. He gives us the strength, wisdom and faith to see above the clutter. To witness our mighty God moving His people, working amongst them to bring His plans to pass.
The Lord does excellent work, and as we are nearing the end times, it is an end-time work. So each of us can go our ways, be strengthened, be diligent, and be comforted. The enemy has attacked God's people, but he can't overrule God's authority. So we continue our work to the best of our ability, wait on the Lord, and watch Him bring His work to a magnificent conclusion. He is our friend and comforter and will never leave or forsake us. Peter shouldn't have looked down at the waves when he walked on water to his Saviour. Neither should we look at the mess as we walk towards that same Saviour. We keep our eyes on Jesus and preserve our faith in Him.
During Job's trauma, a mighty separation occurred, leaving Job to stand alone. One friend, the fourth who came with the three accusers, stood by him to a degree. But all others had left him. God's true Church will go through a similar separating. Those who don't believe God will separate from those who will follow God under any conditions. Our role is to hang on, stay strong in faith, and believe, regardless of what comes against us.
At midnight April 6, 1987, a spiritual word came to David Minor, an ordinary youth pastor, titled The Two Winds.
The first wind comes to separate those institutions and people who walk in holiness and righteousness from those who don't. The second wind brings the true remaining Church to life after it looks as good as dead.
From the outside, Job's life looked overpowered and defeated. As if God had left him. Those who saw him or heard about him engaged in gossip, spreading rumours that Job was on the scrap heap, his ministry gone. "It must be!" they cried. 'Why else would his life look like this?"
Yet, Job's trial wasn't the whole story. It didn't end there. It was a time of testing. We all go through trials, where winds blow hard against us. It is during times of adversity God works best.
In an orchard, strong winds blow only the rotten or loosely hanging fruit from the tree. The other fruit—the ones that get picked—remain attached. The Church is not in turmoil. it's only an appearance. He is preparing it for the harvest.
The Lord used Job's incident to separate him from those who despised him, even within his family. He will likewise divide within His Church in the last days. He is a God of unity, but only after division.
He divided Abel and Seth from Cain, Noah and his family from all the others on the earth, Lot from his unbelieving wife, Isaac from Ishmael, Jacob from Esau, the Israelites from the Canaanites, Paul from the Pharisees, and it goes on.
The winds will blow in your life. They will come. In those times, you must cling to the tree. Job clung to God. Satan was certain that all Job’s ornaments —his family, possessions and success were Job's crutches, which helped him follow God. Satan challenged God "Does Job fear you for no reason? You've put a hedge around him. You've made him successful. Of course, he follows you!"
Many people only follow God because they get given crutches to help 'walk in faith.' Our faith must be more durable than that, where we don't whimper when those things are taken from us. Job didn't fall. Not one of his ‘ornaments’ were crutches. He wasn't spiritually lame. His faith was far more profound than that. Far deeper. Where ours should be. It went to a depth that Satan cannot understand as he's never experienced it.
Job knew in whom he believed. We should too!
When the winds come, we only have the choice of one-way. That is, to believe.
Stay close. Stay in. Stay strong.
Today’s prayer:Dear Lord, again you have challenged me. Sometimes my faith fails a bit when I see the Church in superficial disarray. I realise you are still working, still sorting things out, still rearranging. I must not fret, but continually remember that you are all-powerful and your plans always come to pass. I praise your name again.
Photo by John Middelkoop