The Trials of Job

Job has always been one of those books of the Bible that I have "religiously" avoided.  Usually when I consider getting into it, I decide nah, that'll be for another time.

For some reason, though, a couple of months ago, I decided it was time.  Time to dig deep down into the sufferings of that troubled man Job, and see what it all had to say to me.

Even if you're not overly familiar with Job, you may know that he suffered greatly.  In a small nutshell, here is the story:

Job was a righteous man who had received many blessings from God.
Satan believed Job would not continue to be faithful to God if Job had everything taken away.
God agreed to let that happen.
Job lost much - his wealth, most of his family, and his health.
Job endured.  Through all of his suffering, and in spite of the misguided advice from his "friends," Job continued to trust in the sovereignty and goodness of the Lord.
At the end, God blessed Job for his deep faith and restored to Job even more than he had lost.

I don't claim to have every insight on the book of Job, and I certainly am no Bible scholar, but I'm about half way through the book now, and several areas to study further have stuck out over and over as I continue through it.  (Might this be a future Bible study booklet to write?  I'm praying about that.)

Here are the latest takeaways I have written in my personal journal as of this morning.  (I'm sure if I sat down to write this list another day it would be a completely different list.  I suspect there is an abundance to excavate from the life of Job.)

1.  Sometimes we will suffer.  Inexplicably.

2.  There is a lot of foreshadowing of the coming Messiah in the book of Job.

3.  Jesus suffered and he has told us that in this world we will suffer, too.  We should not be overly surprised when it happens.

4.  Satan tries to use our pain and trials to convince us that God doesn't care about us.

5.  We cannot begin to know the full extent of the mind of God.

6.  Hindsight will always clear up a lot of what was perplexing in the moment.

7.  There is much to learn from Job's "friends" about friendship, or rather about how NOT to be a good friend.

8.  It is always best to draw near to the Lord in the midst of the storm.

9.  God deserves and will always get the glory in the end.

10. God can be trusted, even when we don't understand.

11. Bad things do happen to good people.

I'm curious - if you've studied Job, what are some of your takeaways?