God strips us for various reasons. He can even strip us of what we have to get our attention and pull us to Himself when we have wandered off.
One of the reasons God exposed Job to the devil was to increase him. Contrary to popular belief, misfortune does befall the obedient.
Job was proceeding well in his Christian walk because he wasn’t being tested. When he was, he questioned God and sinned. Sometimes we are “good believers” due to the Lord not permitting any tests our way. We spend time with the Lord blissfully and once we interact with the world, we find ourselves getting offended at a snarky remark or hastily giving into anger when the Word instructs us to be slow to it.
Job felt that so long as he lived right, no testing should befall him. He trusted in his righteousness instead of the Lord. He felt that God was being unjust (Job 9 :22-24) Joseph on the contrary, fled Portipher’s wife’s seduction and yet was incarcerated. God left him there for yrs even though he was innocent, however, he dared not question or complain against God. Living right does not exempt us from testing, it invites it.
Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego(The three Hebrew boys) uttered the famous words “our God will deliver us but even if he doesn’t we will not bow” ( Daniel 3 : 17-18) This is what Job lacked. He felt that his righteousness should exempt and disqualify him for testing but the 3 Hebrew boys said “even if he doesn’t deliver us, we won’t bow”. They trusted in the Lord regardless of the outcome.
Testing shows where our trust lies. It exposes us.
Some people upon witnessing how the Lord took us through the fire and brought us out unscathed, or at least hear that He did, believe in His existence. Our testimonies are potent in giving people a taste of the reality of our God. The Lord calls us to be His witnesses. What is a witness? According to Merriam-webster disctionary it is:
- 1 attestation of a fact or event : testimony
- 2
- : one that gives evidence
- specifically : one who testifies in a cause or before a judicial tribunal
- 3
- : one asked to be present at a transaction so as to be able to testify to its having taken place
- 4
- : one who has personal knowledge of something
As it pertains to believers, we share about the Lord, our testimonies and how we have seen that the “God of the Bible” is truly who He says He is. He performed this in my life or so and so’s life.I saw it.
King Darius recognized that Daniel’s God is the true living God when he survived the lions.
Sometimes, issues that the Lord permits are typically enduring due to the Lord having an end goal. He is seeking to accomplish something.The capacity of the Lord to utilize a life surrendered in faith is beyond human comprehension. The Bible says those that know their God shall do exploits(Dan 11:32), not those who believe in the Lord. Consider Daniel. His faith in God changed the worship of an entire kingdom! ( Daniel 6: 26).No church, nor group of believers were present.The Lord accomplished this through one man . Additionally, we observe this in Paul’s life as well.When he was on the island of Malta he was bitten by a venomous serpent that should have ended his life. The Lord permitted this because the inhabitants of that island knew the type of species the serpent was.Needless to say, it opened the door for the gospel to be preached and for souls to be won. Such narratives are replete in the body of Christ.
Furthermore, Paul and Barnabas were scourged and through that painful, agonizing encounter, the jailer and his family were saved. On the tv program, The 700 club, a story was narrated of a group of young men who travelled to an island where the Word had never been preached before. Lamentably, the men were killed by the inhabitants of that island. However, today, the descendants of those martyrs are preaching on that island. The people who murdered the young men received salvation; however, what paved way for this salvation were the valiant young men who were on fire for God and wanted to take the Gospel where it had not been heard. I can recall the story of a prominent pastor in the body of Christ who took the gospel to an Islamic state. He and his team were severely battered anand bruised and he inquired of the Lord if they should depart and go home. The Lord exhorted them to stay and today, they have been able to establish a church there.
Misunderstanding the ways of the Lord yields errors in judgment. Unbeknownst to Job, he was being prepared to receive a deeper revelation of the Lord. He concluded after the Lord questioned him “ truly I spoke of things I have not known”(Job 42:3). Some revelations and increases do not come through fasting or praying but through overcoming testing. Job is testament of this.