Health
‘The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life”. So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. (Job 2:6-7KJV)
If you lost your possessions in a matter of hours, followed by the death of all your sons and daughters, you wonder what next for a man? One could say that, the enemy should have stopped there. But you see, this whole thing was targeted at something. The enemy would want to do something that can touch your flesh. ‘my bones are pierced in me in the night season: and my sinews take no rest”.(Job 30:17) You know until your flesh is touched, you wouldn’t really feel the suffering.
The enemy attack of Job’s life was targeted at his body. The ultimate plan of the devil was to attack Job’s flesh. Remember God warned the enemy to spare his life… ‘He is in your hands but spare his life’ (Job 2:6). The pride of every man is in what he owns and so if what a man has worked for all through his life is burnt down in hours, it can provide rude shocks that can kill him. But he holds his breath. If his children die through a home accident, it could be just as his life was gone. All these were external happenings.
Job knew that his life was sought when he was finally struck by the boils. That was the point. The enemy may have thought, ‘let me torture him until he gives up on the ghost. The Lord told the enemy to spare Job’s life but if indeed Job lost his life through the pain in his body, God wouldn’t have directly blamed the devil for Job’s death. It would have been Job who could not endure the pain. But the enemy watched the words of God and performed his duties within limits. Job knew at this point that the enemy wanted his life and it was only his faith that could win the battle.
Was Job indeed tired and wanted to give up the ghost? He wanted death but death did not come to him… ‘why does he give light to one in misery and life to those bitter of soul, who wait for death, but it does not come.. (Job 3:21) There are some pains that are undescribed. Excruciating pain are the ones that takes yours very breathe away. They are pains that touches your bones. They can be infirm ed and that’s why most are referred to as infirmities. If you let lose you spirit, it can crash you to death. If a man bears the pain however, then his spirit is strong… ‘a human spirit can endure in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear? (Proverbs 18:14 NIV)
… ‘No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you’re tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it…(1 Corinthians 10:13 NIV)Are you going through a suffering today that you feel like ending your life? Is it unbearable that you come to a place of complaint sometimes? When you complain, do people try to shut you up? Sometimes you could feel that, people don’t understand you and that’s why they speak the way they do? Remember Job’s friends came to speak as judgmental and as people who did not understand him-(Job 4:7-8, 22:5). Are you misunderstood? Are you misrepresented?
Understand that, the devil may have gone to question God about your devotion to Him and because God is confident about the foundation of your faith, he deliberately allowed the enemy to attack you. It’s not every sickness that comes from God but God can give you survival instincts knowing that it is deadly. God knows you will die if he doesn’t come in and that’s the reason he took over. You endured because God took over and that should be your testimony. Take you guard, be conscious that it is a battle and your approach, your attitude and your words will do a lot in the way you end. There is a time when God will tell the enemy to stay his hand. ‘It is enough’ and that ends the battle.
