Read Job 1:8-22.
How you respond to a challenge reveals in whom you have placed your trust. That certainly can be said of Job. Job was a man of great wealth and material possessions, but also someone who had integrity. He worshipped God. The first scene in the book of Job takes place in heaven. God cites Job as someone who displayed reverence for God and turned from evil. Satan, in his role as an accuser, attacks Job as someone who worshipped and obeyed God because he was prosperous. Job had been protected by his material blessings from the realities of life. In fact, Job would curse God if he lost his possessions, Satan asserted.
God allowed Satan to strike at Job’s possessions. In three separate incidents, the basis of Job’s livelihood, livestock, was struck down and eliminated. A final blow came when a servant came and reported to Job that his sons and daughters were killed in what seemed to be a freak accident. It appeared that the forces of heaven and earth had turned against Job. This was what Satan had planned.
How did Job respond to these tragedies? The account says that Job tore his clothes and shaved his head, which were typical signs of grief, mourning, and lament in that time. But, Job also worshipped God. He realized that God had given all of these things to him and that God had allowed them to be removed. Job remained confident in the Lord in the midst of extreme difficulties and continued to offer praise to God.
Although he attempted to speak to God as an equal about Job, Satan was not. Anything that Satan did was under the control of God and allowed by Him. Satan continues to attack believers. God may allow us to be tested, but He remains with us and is there, through the Holy Spirit, to help us in our times of difficulty.
Mark Riser - Apologist 