READING:
One-year plan: Job 1-5, Acts 17:22-18:17
Two-year plan: Joshua 21:34-22:34, Luke 9:44-56
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The book of Job is not about Satan, though we often think about his role in the story more than we do God’s role. Actually, Satan appears primarily in only the prologue of the book — but his attacks on Job’s life are nevertheless intense. Within these first chapters of this book are details about spiritual warfare that we do not want to miss.
- God reigns supremely over even the battles of warfare. It was God—not Satan—who brought up Job’s name in the story. Obviously, an all-wise God must have had a reason for the conflict.
- Even righteous people face horrendous battles. Some today preach a message that denies this reality that God allows His own to be deeply and painfully attacked by the enemy. The Bible certainly doesn’t whitewash this truth, as is evident in Job’s story.
- Satan is bent on destruction. That’s what we see in the prologue: eradication of animals, servants, and family members. Satan wants to destroy.
- Satan can go only as far as God allows him to go. It appears he would have killed Job if God would have allowed him to do so—but Satan cannot leap the hedge that God has placed around Job.
- Satan knows his limits. He knew he could not go beyond God’s boundaries, and he recognized the hedge: “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and all that he has?” (Job 1:10).
Perhaps, then, this truth is most pivotal for our reading: victory in spiritual warfare is not avoiding the battle — it’s worshiping God in the battle. It’s trusting God anyway during the conflict, praising Him in the agony of the battle and refusing to blame Him.
PERSONAL REFLECTION: Are you trusting God in the battle?
DAILY PRAYER: “God, grant me the heart to trust You no matter what I face.”
TOMORROW’S READINGS:
One-year plan: Job 6-8, Acts 18:18-19:20
Two-year plan: Joshua 23-24, Luke 9:57-10:12
*portions first published in 2016