Give and Take

"God gives and Satan takes away!"

I am sure you heard that before. Of course, it is true!

You do not believe me? Well, just ask the myriads of so-called evangelicals who teach that almost every Sunday in church!

There are so many preachers claiming to be evangelical, that teach their people from the pulpit that God is not sovereign! They will teach that God gives us all the good things in life, but Satan comes to take it all away!

However, we read about Job saying, "The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away..."

Of course, these preachers will immediately reply by saying, "Yea! But that is what Job said, not what God said!"

The fact is that in this passage of Job 1, verse 22 clearly says, "In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong."

Reading about this first tragedy in Job's life, one is immediately faced with the question of God's sovereignty!

What did Satan tell God about where he had come from? "From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it." (v7)

What amazes me is God's answer to Satan's "coming and going" on the earth! "Have you considered my servant Job...?" What was Satan doing on the earth, "coming and going?" "Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour." (1 Pet 5:8) This is what Satan does while he is "coming and going" on the earth. Seeking "someone to devour!" The Lord knew about this. He knew that Satan was looking for someone to devour!

Yet, it was the Lord who asked Satan to consider Job. Did the Lord ask Satan to consider Job simply to think about Job? Or, did God ask Satan to consider Job as his next subject for testing and "devouring?"

The fact is that God gave Satan his limits in his attack upon Job. (v12) In one day, Job lost all his children, his servants and all his livestock. That is a tragedy beyond imagination!

Of course, if this happened to the modern evangelical, who would be blamed for the tragedy? Satan, of course! As if God was totally unable to limit Satan's actions!

Yet, Job understood God's sovereignty when he said, "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD." (v21)

Job knew that God is the Almighty Sovereign of the universe and nothing, but nothing, could happen on this planet without God's signature on the triplicate application! In fact, it is God Himself who suggested Job to Satan. Why would it be any different for you and me?

The problem is that many today think of God and Satan as co-equals! Sometimes they even include themselves as God's co-equal! They do not understand, nor believe that God is sovereign and that ALL comes to pass by God's sovereign decree!