Reasons Bad Things Happen to Good People #2

A couple of weeks ago I told you guys about a book I was reading, 21 Reasons Bad Things Happen to Good People, and I decided to look at one reason every week. Well, I am not so good with follow through and on week 2 (last week) I failed! But, I picked back up this week and am bringing you reason #2! (To see the previous post go here) It's really long and bless your heart if you make it to the end. It's really an encouraging reason and much more uplifting than last week (I told you the first week was hard, but it got easier). It's kind of abstract and you have to open your heart and mind to this reason. I found a lot of peace in it and I hope that you do as well!
To Win an Unseen Victory (Job 1-2)
No matter how much we like to think our grief is unique and we feel we are completely alone in it we are not. In fact, Job was the "poster boy" for pain and grief.
Life was good, very good:
Job was…honest inside and out, a man of his word , who was totally devoted to God and hated evil with a passion. He had seven sons and three daughters. He was also very wealthy—seven thousand head of shepn, three thousand camels, five thousand teams of oxen, five hundred donkeys, and a huge staff of servants—the most influential man in all the East! (Job 1:1-3 The Message)
From this we know 3 things:
1. Job was a good man.
2. Job was a family man who loved his 7 sons and 3 daughters.
3. Job had it good! He was one of the richest, most powerful, most influential men in his part of the world.
Life turned VERY bad:
While Job's children were having one of their parties at the home of the oldest son, a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys grazing in the field next to us when Sabens attacked. They stole the animals and killed the field hands. I'm the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." While he was still talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Bolts of lightning struck the sheep and the shepherds and fried them—burned them to a crisp. I'm the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." While he was talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Caldeans coming from three directions raided the camels and massacred the camel drivers. I'm the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." While he was still talking, another messenger arrived and said, "Your children were having a party at the home of the oderst brother when a tornado swept in off the desert and struck the house. It collapsed on the young people and they died. I'm the only one to get out alive and tell you what happened." (Job 1:13-19 The Message)
I know some of us have suffered unimaginable pain, but I cannot even fathom Job's losses. In one day, with no warning, he lost it all. His family, fortune, job, property, retirement…everything. I know the pain of losing 3 babies over the course of 3 days and it is crushing. I cannot imagine surviving losing 10 at the same time! Why would a loving, just God allow this to happen to one of his most faithful servants?

The Scene Behind the Scene:
God and Satan are in a battle for souls. Our loyalty and our praise is the ultimate "score." What Job was unaware of was a battle raging.
God said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil." Satan retorted, "So do you think Job does all that out of the sheer goodness of his heart? Why, no one ever had it so good! You pamper him like a pet, make sure nothing bad ever happens to him or his family or his possessions, bless everything he does—he can't lose!! But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away everything that is his? He'd curse you right to your face, that's what." God replied, "We'll see. Go ahead—do what you want with all that is his. Just don't hurt him." Then Satan left the presence of God. (Job 1: 8-12 The Message)
Early says, "The question of evil and suffering on planet Earth must be understood as a spiritual battle ground. There is more at stake than the comfort or heartache of a single sufferer. Monumental issues may be at stake. Massive questions may be hanging on the response of a lone individual."
Satan is fully aware that without bribery and trickery he is not worth our loyalty. He was ignorant and jealous enough of God's power to believe that God was not worthy of our allegiance. So Satan staged a high stakes game and unfortunately for Job he was a play piece. In my opinion the only reason God went along was because he knew God's heart.
Job's Response:After Job learned his children had been killed by a tornado:
Job got to his feet, ripped his robe, shaved his head, then fell t the ground and worshiped: Naked I came from my mother's womb, naked I'll return to the womb of the earth. God gives, God takes. God's name be ever blessed. Not once through all this did Job sin; not once did he blame God. (Job 1: 20-22 The Message)
His response proved that he believed that even in the presence of suffering God was worthy of praise!
God: 1
Satan: 0
Bad turned Worse:Before Job had a chance to heal his broken heart things got even worse.
Satan…struck Job with terrible sores. Job was ulcers and scabs from head to foot. They itched and oozed so badly that he took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself, then went and sat on a trash heap, among the ashes. (Job 2: 7-8 The Message)
Now Job was not only broken on the inside, but he was also physically broken. This strikes a chord with me. I read so many of your stories of a physical infertility diagnosis and I read about your pain at being angry with your bodies. I read about the ways that you feel that your bodies have failed you and my heart is broken for you. I think that in this respect some of you with IF diagnosis can really relate to Job. Again, why would God allow this? Why didn't God protect Job?

The Scene Behind the Scene, Part 2:
Satan is a stubborn fool!
Then God said to Satan, "Have you noticed my friend Job? There's no one quite like him, is there—honest and true to his word, totally devoted to God and hating evil? He still has a firm grip on his integrity! You tried to trick me into destroying him, but it didn't work" Satan answered, "A human would do anything to save his life. But what do you think would happen if you reached down and took away his health? He'd curse you to your face, that's what." God said, "All right, go ahead—you can do what you like with him. But mind you, don't kill him." (Job 2: 3-6 The Message)
Satan felt certain that Job would surely buckle after losing his health, even if losing everything else hadn't done it. Confident in Job's loyalty and character God allowed Job to be tested.
Job's Response, Part 2:His wife said, "Still holding on to our precious integrity, are you? Curse God and be done with it!" He told her, "You're talking like an empty-headed fool. We take the good days from God—why not also the bad days?" Not once through all this did Job sin. He said nothing against God. (Job 2: 9-10 The Message)
And still Job chose to worship God. Again, in the center of unimaginable physical and emotional pain Job found God worthy to be praised!!
God: 2
Satan: 0
A Reason Bad Things Happen to Good People:
So, I don't think I can say this better than Early so I am not even going to try! I think it's important because it changed the way I look at my grief.
"Let me stretch your thinking for just a few minutes. This is an amazing thought. Maybe some of our suffering has little or nothing to do with us and everything to do with God's plan to silence Satan's pride, to shut Satan's mouth. Satan wants to be worshipped like God, but he knows he is not worth it. If his followers were put in the same position in which Job was placed, they would turn on him very quickly.
Yet, whey one of God's followers, in this case Job, lost everything, he refused to turn. God was worth it. And Satan was shut up.
There are forty more chapters in the book of Job, and do you know how many times Satan is mentioned after Chapter 2? None, nada, zero, zip! Why? Satan is no longer mentioned because Satan was thoroughly silenced by the stunning worthiness of God as seen in the extraordinary integrity of Job. He was shut out, soundly defeated. God had won and Satan had lost, so he slunk off in embarrassed silence."
"Wow! One little human who suffered so triumphantly had the power to shut the mouth of the prince of darkness! He did not bind the enemy with some well-worded prayer. He did not call down fire from heaven to burn up the enemy. He just remained loyal to God even though bad things were crashing in all around him. He was faithful in spite of a heart broken by fief and a body broken by pain. Job did not realize it at the time, but he was winning an unseen victory. Wow! Friend, maybe the bad things that are happening to you right now really don't have to do with you so much as with the titanic struggle of the universe. Maybe the entire kingdom of darkness and the entire kingdom of God are watching to see how you handle your pain, in order to know if your life proves that God is truly worthy"
He sums it up to say that we don't know what battles are raging and that no one in the history of man has every gone through our life, our struggles and our battles. How are we to know if our unique struggles are a critical battle leading up to end of time! If you stop and let it all soak it in it really is an incredible thought! Could it really be that my struggles and grief could be "scoring" one for the good team? I could never claim to have the faith of Job, not even close, but if at any time God can look at me and "shut Satan up" even for a second then I feel good! This pushes me forward and pushes me to be more like Job. To choose to worship God in the middle of the pain, because He is Good today, just as good as he was 3 months ago when I was 21 weeks pregnant and Ella Grace was alive!
I know this may be "out there" for some of you and I hope I don't throw any of you off, but it is food for thought!! Have a blessed day! Thank GOD for Friday!!