Serving God Because He is God

Are you familiar with the story of Job?

Job was an extremely wealthy man and a faithful servant of God.

"There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him. Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East" (Job 1:1).

Not only was Job rich, he was one of the richest men in the world at that time. But unlike most rich people, he didn't allow his riches to distract him from faithfully serving the God of heaven. Job was so righteous and so spiritually-minded that God bragged on him to Satan.

"Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?" (Job 1:8)

Satan's point was that Job served God only because God had so extensively blessed him and protected him from the usual hardships and rigors of life. In other words, Job was serving an all-loving, all-caring, all-benevolent God. It was easy to believe in that kind of God. Job's image of God was idealistic. Satan went on to say that if God afflicted Job at all, he would surely abandon his faith (1:9-11).

God decided to permit Satan to afflict Job. In the course of one day, all of Job's possessions were destroyed or stolen, his servants were killed, and if that wasn't enough, his own children died in a freak accident. How did Job respond to this sudden outburst of tribulation?

"Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: 'naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong" (Job 1:20-22).

God had one of those "told you so" moments with Satan not long thereafter. But Satan shrugged it off and argued that if God afflicted Job physically, he would, without a doubt, curse God (2:4-5). God permitted Satan to afflict Job physically, but to spare his life. As a result, Job developed painful boils all over his body. The boils were so painful that he took a sharp piece of pottery and scraped the boils from his flesh (2:7-8).

His wife pleaded with him:

"Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!" (2:9).

 To which Job replied:

"You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips" (2:10).

So, Job believed in and served God when his view of God was idealistic, but even when this view was challenged, and even in the midst of sudden tribulation, his faith in God was firm. In other words, Job's faith in God wasn't dependant on a particular view of God. He didn't respond by saying, "Well, I guess God's not who I thought He was, so He must not exist" or "I'll just not serve that kind of God."

But the story isn't over just yet. Three of Job's friends - Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar - heard about his suffering and came to comfort him (2:11-13). After seven days of silence, of unceasing pain and memories of the life that once was, Job grew discouraged. He began to wish that he had never lived and that God would "crush" him and "loose His hand and cut me off" (6:8-9). He wanted answers (6:24, 29; 7:20; 10:2). Job began to feel that God had abandoned him, that perhaps God was not as near to him as he used to believe (16:11-17:1; 19:6). What had he done to deserve this? Where was God? How could God allow such things to happen to a righteous man? Nothing was making sense.

But notice that even though Job questioned and even challenged God at times, He held onto his faith. Despite the fact that Job's image of God was challenged and his faith frustrated, God's existence and His power remained as unalterable facts in his mind.

Notice the following statements:

"If one wished to contend with Him, he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength. Who has hardened himself against Him and prospered...How then can I answer Him, and choose my words to reason with Him? For though I were righteous, I could not answer Him; I would beg mercy of my Judge" (9:3-4, 14-15).

"Who among all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind" (12:9-10).

"Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him" (13:15).

"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and He shall stand at last on the earth; and after my skin is destroyed, this I know, that in my flesh I shall see God" (19:25-26).

"Therefore I am terrified at His presence; when I consider this, I am afraid of Him" (23:15).

Job's world had been turned upside down and his understanding of God challenged...perhaps even changed. Before, all he had known was God's love, mercy, provision, guidance and benevolence. Then Job experienced hardship and learned that God not only could give, but could take away. Yet he held firm to his faith. Finally, as Job suffered more and more, his thoughts turned to confusion, frustration and even bitterness. He had seen God's love before, but now He saw God's judgment. He had always known God's mercy and benevolence, but now Job witnessed God's heavy hand. Job had always experienced God's presence and provision, but now he felt God's absence. He felt alone and undeserving of this tribulation.

But...

He never once questioned God's existence, His power, His sovereignty, and most importantly, he never lost sight of the fact that he was still accountable to God. His understanding and view of God were shaken, but his faith in God and his eagerness to serve Him were not shaken.

Here's the point: our understanding of God, will, at times, be challenged as our relationship with Him deepens. If we learn anything from Job's life, it is that we cannot limit God to our present understanding of Him. He is who He is and we may at different points in our lives come to learn new things about Him. We may come to better appreciate His love, or it may be His wrath and judgment. How near to us is God? How caring is He? How involved is He? How often does His providence influence our lives or the lives of those around us? Who...who is He exactly?

This is what I love about Job and why I believe he is praised for his perseverance in James 5:11. It's not that everything he said was right, or that he reacted perfectly, but he held fast to his faith in God even when his understanding of God's character was challenged and even altered.

Are you serving God only because you approve of His character as you understand it now? Or are you willing to faithfully serve God no matter what? Even if He's harsher than you believe, or more demanding than you believe, or _____________ than you believe, I ask that you serve God because He is God, because in the end, He will stand as He is and you will be accountable to Him as He is...not as you wish Him to be.

Thank you Job for your wonderful example.