Read Job 1:6-Job 2:10. What caused Job’s suffering?

 There is something astonishing here. The angels come to see God, and Satan comes with them. God asks Satan where he has been, and Satan replies that he has been “roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it” (Job 1:7, NIV). Then God poses this question: “Have you considered my servant Job?” (Job 1:8, NIV). The question itself is not remarkable; what is remarkable is the One who asks it. It isn’t Satan who points out Job as a subject for examination — it’s God. Knowing exactly what is going to follow, God calls Job to Satan’s attention. Down on the earth, Job has absolutely no idea how hot his crucible is about to become. And though it’s very clear that it is Satan, not God, who causes Job’s suffering, it is also clear that it is God who gives His explicit permission for Satan to destroy Job’s possessions, children, and his own physical health. If God is giving permission for Job to suffer, what difference does it make whether God or Satan is personally inflicting the suffering? How can God be righteous and holy when He actively allows Satan to cause Job such pain? Is this situation a special case, or is it characteristic of the way God still deals with us today?

 In Job 1:20, 21, how does Job respond to the trials?

 It is possible to respond to such suffering in two ways. We can become bitter and angry, turning our backs on a God we believe to be cruel or nonexistent, or we can hang on to God more tightly. Job deals with his catastrophe by staying in God’s presence and worshiping Him.

 In Job 1:20, 21, we see three aspects of worship that may help when in anguish. First, Job accepts his helplessness and recognizes that he has no claim to anything: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart” (Job 1:21, NIV). Second, Job acknowledges that God is still in total control: “The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away”(Job 1:21, NIV). Third, Job concludes by reasserting his belief in the righteousness of God.

 “May the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21, NIV).