November 17 - LD 46, Day 6: Only 'Good' Things?
by Rev. G. Van Baren
Read: Job 1
It is very important to
remember that whatever God sends to His children, it is always good. What
earthly father would give his children only candy for food - and not give
carrots and spinach and peas because these are repulsive to his children? What
earthly father will only and always praise his children - and never rebuke nor
chastise them?
When our heavenly Father
sends what we might not like, it is not to punish us for some sin we have
committed. Jesus has taken on Himself the guilt of and punishment for our sin.
That's the wonder of the cross. But God does chastise. We still have the
"old man," the old nature, as long as we live on this earth. We often
need correction from our heavenly Father to remind us of our calling to flee
sin and seek righteousness.
Sometimes, we do not see
that what we receive is needed - we can think of no specific sin for which God
is chastising us. The Bible presents a striking instance of this in the Old
Testament saint, Job. He had an abundance of material things, much cattle, many servants, and ten children. He was very
godly - he offered sacrifices and prayers for his children. Suddenly, God took
all of that away from Job. It must have been devastating. Would Job's Father in
heaven do that to one so obviously serving God rightly? Yes, God did. It was
not to chastise Job, but to shape and prepare him for his place in glory. Satan
had challenged God to take all these things away - and then Job would no longer
serve God.
But Satan was terribly
wrong. Job was strengthened in his faith in the way of afflictions. He refused
to follow the advice of his wife to curse God and die. He acknowledged God's
Sovereignty in confessing, "The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away;
blessed be the Name of the LORD" (Job 1:21b). Job did not simply confess
some dogmatic truth, but experienced in his heart and life the truth of that
confession.
So it must be with God's
people. God sends many difficult things in the lives of His people. In Rom 8:28
we confess, "All things work together for good for them that love God, to
them who are the called according to His purpose."
That's the confession of
faith of the Christian. He knows that whatever befalls him, his heavenly Father
knows what is best. God’s design must be realized. If we do not understand why
some thing befalls us, we know that finally in glory we shall understand and
thank God for what He sends.