I
have never understood people who needed attention so badly that they would settle
for negative attention. I have always liked receiving attention – but only the
positive kind will do! Job seems to share my attitude. He wants to know why God
has singled him out for so much unfriendly attention.*
Sometimes
we feel like God is picking on us. Everything goes wrong at once. Life no
longer lives up to our expectations. Truly, some good people seem to have more
than they deserve to bear. At such times, we ought to ask ourselves if there is a “wise and loving purpose” in the trial.* Maybe God has turned Satan loose on us so that we can become instruments of
Satan’s defeat. Spiritual warfare is being waged in the background of every
moment of our lives. Suffering and trials might prove a little easier for
me to endure if I knew that God and Satan had had a discussion in which God declared
about me, “There is no one on earth like her. She is blameless and up-right; a
woman who fears God and shuns evil. And she still maintains her integrity even
though you have tried to conspire against her.” (Job 2.3, slight paraphrase.)
Do
we lead such upright lives that we can face our trials with dignity and maybe
some joy, knowing that Satan wouldn’t be messing with us if he didn’t fear us?
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