Monday of 26th Week, Year II: reflection
Theme: Never allow the devil to have the last smile in your life: lesson from Job’s story
Reading: Job 1:6–22
Many Christians often ask why God allows good people to suffer. Many people do wonder why a loving and almighty God would allow calamities to befall those who love and serve Him. Some people see this as a valid argument to insist that God doesn’t exist or that if He does exist, He doesn’t care about man.
The book of Job, which we started reading in today’s Mass, was written in response to similar questions and worries. For a long time, God’s people had wondered why those that love God often suffer terribly. The author of this literary masterpiece chose to respond with the story of Job, of a man who suffered despite his goodness, and to beautifully narrate what caused his suffering and how he responded.
In the portion we read today, my attention was drawn to the conversation between God and Satan about Job. Did you notice how proud God was about Job? Did you notice how He boasted before the devil about His servant Job and vouched that nothing on earth will make Job to fail Him? Do you think God has stopped boasting before the devil about many good people on earth? Do you also think that the devil has stopped using all his arsenal to test good people’s dedication to God by making their lives unbearable, as he did to Job’s? As in the case of Job, the devil always believes that good people are faithful to God because everything is moving well in their lives.
Now, come to think of it. If Job had not stood firm till the end, the narrative would have been that in the life of Job, the devil won a contest against God; God would have lost a battle against the devil on account of Job. However, Job did not allow the devil to triumph over God in his life.
Dear friends, God has not stopped boasting about our faithfulness to Him in front of the devil, the tempter and destroyer, and the devil has not stopped staging a contest with God on our head. Let us not allow the devil to triumph over God in our lives. No matter how difficult the devil makes your situation to be, as he did to Job’s, never allow him to have the last smile; never allow him to win the contest. If you compromise your faith, he has won the contest, and the narrative will be that in your life, the devil won a contest against God. Our perseverance in the faith in times of trials and tribulations will guarantee us victory and restoration from God, just as it happened in Job’s life.
May your new week be fruitful and prosperous, Amen
Fr Isaac Chima