Job 10:1-22 – Tough times rightly endured can bring out the best in us

Severely stressed by his condition, Job complained about his suffering. He wondered why God had treated him with such violence. He suggested several suppositions for why God treated him so harshly. Job insisted that he was genuinely interested to know what he did that had warranted such a treatment. Job’s experience tells us that no matter how godly a person may be, when in intense agony, his mind could conjure up all kinds of unwholesome thoughts concerning God. Of course, He does not delight in oppression. T0 be oppressive is a contradiction to His nature.

Job also saw himself as the work of God’s hand. He wondered why did God form him, care for him, ensure his growth from foetus in his mother’s womb until his birth. But now that he had become a full-grown man He would crush him. He saw the contradiction in how he was treated. As far as he knew, no porter would crush the vessel that he had made. Did God predestine his suffering? Certainly not, God is not the author of evil. There is not a single negative element of evil in God’s nature. Bear in mind that the mindset of Job and the people of his time was that everything good or evil came from the hand of God. Hence, he was unable to fully comprehend his suffering. Therefore, he comforted himself with the thought of death.

Thankfully, today we have a fuller revelation and know that God is not the author of evil. Satan is the author and cause of all evil. But he cannot do anything to us as his pleases without God’s approval. And when he does get a chance to target us, it’s only because God is using him to bring out the best in us. So, how we respond to our hardship matters. Know that God uses Satan, his unwilling servant, to hone and make us the very best version we can be.