There Will Be Good and There Will Be Adversity
…Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?
-Job 2:10 (NKJV)
The piece of scripture above was spoken by God’s faithful (and famous) servant, Job, who glorified and praised God when not only his health had been afflicted (Job 2:7), but also after having lost all his sons and daughters and all of his wealth. (Job 1:13-20) After reading about all that had happened to him and then seeing what he said afterwards Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? I was initially very perplexed. Does God cause bad things to happen in our lives? I thought. Was Job saying that we should accept the good things that God gives us along with the bad things that God gives us? But as I meditated further on the verse, I realised that that is not what he was saying.
When Job says Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity? He is saying that whilst we will get good from God in life, we must not forget that there will also be adversity. However, this adversity does not come from God, but from the enemy.
Adversity is Comes from the Enemy
In chapters one and two of the book of Job, you will realise that all the terrible things that happened to Job were caused by Satan, not God. (Job 1:12, Job 2:7) We see this same pattern in the Gospels as demons, Satan’s messengers, torment people and afflict them with sickness. (Mark 5:2-5) But Satan and his demons are not the only enemy causing havoc in our lives.
When the bad things happen, it is not always necessarily because Satan has painted a bull’s eye target on your back. We live in a fallen and corrupt world and sometimes people, like Job’s wife, (Job 2:9) end up aiding the devil in his work to usurp believers simply because they are of the world and do not know nor understand God. (John 1:10)
But we must not let this adversity discourage or overwhelm us. Jesus promises in the book of John that there will be tribulation; there will be adversity. (John 16:33) But instead of being afraid of this truth and praying to be shielded in a safe little corner away from it, we must pray and understand why adversity comes and then we will know how to overcome it.
Adversity Comes for the Word
In Matthew 13 when Jesus is explaining the parable of the sower and the seeds, He speaks of the seed that fell on the stony ground and says this about it But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy; yet he had no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution come because of the word, immediately he stumbles. Matthew 13: 20 (NKJV)
If you read carefully here, you will notice that the tribulation and persecution arise because of the word. When Jesus came to earth, he faced more than his fair share of adversity; left, right and centre the Pharisees were there waiting to question His every move and action. They plotted against Him and spoke out against Him; they called Him a deceiver and blasphemer. (Matthew 9:3, Matthew 27:63) Jesus and His words offended the Pharisees because they exposed their hypocritical and dark works and those in the dark hate the light.
It is the same for us as Christians, once we receive Jesus as our Lord and Saviour and begin actively living for Him, those in the dark – people of the world, Satan and his demons- become offended and want to snuff out that light and truth.
But in the face of this we must not stumble, instead we must be like Job; stand firm and hold fast to integrity.
Hold Fast to Integrity
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and Shuns evil. And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me, against him, to destroy him without cause.” Job 2:3 (NKJV)
To hold fast to your integrity means, like Job, that when adversity arises you do not act contrary to the Word by resorting to worldly solutions and you do not curse God. When difficult or challenging situations arise, use it as an opportunity to learn patience and strengthen your faith. (James 1: 2-4) When you hold fast to integrity it also means holding fast to the integrity of God’s word.
Every word of God is pure; He is a shield to those who put their trust in Him Proverbs 30:5 (NKJV)
Do not be like the man who received seed on stony ground, who had no root in himself but root yourself in God.
As Christians we must trust God and remember that He is our shield. But when adversity comes our way we are quick to forget this, to wail and complain and charge God with wrong, that is wrong. By doing this we are being no better than the devil and his angels who rebel against God and refuse to exalt Him. We are not called to be Satan’s helpers but God’s sons and heirs, (John 1:12) and as heirs we must behave as such. We must remember who our King is and that we overcome in Christ.
You Have Overcome
For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world- our faith. Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God. 1 John 5:4-5 (NKJV)
The simple act of believing that Jesus is the son of God has such a great and profound impact on our lives, it allows us to overcome the world. Through Jesus we overcome the Satan and his ploys and every bad thing that the world throws at us. That is not to say that we suddenly live strife free lives, but God gives us the strength and grace to persevere through it and He delivers us whenever we fall. “Many are the affliction of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” Psalm 34:19 (NKJV)
We will face hard times in this world, we will be persecuted and there will be adversity, but we must remember the words of Jesus “be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” This should be our strength and comfort as we live on earth as Christians. There will be adversity, but we must remember that Jesus has overcome the world and because of Him, so have we.
