It requires some time in reflection to think deeply about the lessons we are learning from the book of Job. The following are lessons that come from our study of the first few chapters.
1. Satan will try and use either pleasure or pain to keep us from trusting in God.
Since pleasure did not seem to work on Job, the enemy tried approaching him with pain. We must be careful to not allow neither good circumstances nor bad to lead us away from depending on God; and we must remember that there are dangers in both riches and poverty (Prov. 30:7 – 9; Phil. 4:11 – 13).
2. The deepest lessons of life and faith are learned through pain or suffering.
Someone said, ‘A faith that has not been tested cannot be trusted.’ We cannot be certain about the maturity of our faith in God until we are forced to depend on Him more fully. Psalm 119:71 says, It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.
3. God is more interested in changing our minds than our circumstances.
We spend a lot of time trying to change our circumstances instead of our minds, but the Bible teaches us that we are transformed by the renewing of our minds, not our circumstances (Rom. 12:2; 2 Cor. 12:7 – 10). In some situations God wants to change you, not your circumstances.
4. The problem of good is a greater problem than that of evil.
We don’t think very much about the problem of good because our theology tends to start and end with us instead of with God. The problem of evil is really part of the larger problem of how a good and benevolent God restores a wayward and prodigal universe to Himself (Rom. 3:10 – 12; 5:8)
5. Through suffering we learn to care for others.
At the end of his life Job is more compassionate and understanding than at the beginning, even toward those who made his suffering worse. 2 Cor. 1:4 says that God comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
But above all the lessons we might glean from Job, Perseverance in the face of suffering is the lesson given to us by James, the only author of the New Testament that cites Job
“Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” (James 5:10 – 11)
In a Cathedral in Milan, there is a doorway with three inscriptions over it.
Over the right-hand door, there is the motto: “All that pleases is but for a moment.” Over the left-hand door, it says: “All that troubles is but for a moment.” Over the top of the centre door it reads: “Nothing is important, save that which is eternal.”
