Tested and Found Faithful

May 14

Job 36:11 has a word that the ‘name it and claim it gang’ will grasp as though it’s their ticket to anywhere they want to go! Here it says, “If they obey and serve God, they will spend the rest of their days in prosperity and their years in contentment.” But, these words were spoken by one of Job’s ‘comforters’ when Job was going through a horrific trial.

Elihu was a man who had probably been jealous of Job’s prosperity and of the honor he had enjoyed before God. Unfortunately, even today, many godly people experience this kind of attitude from their associates who resent the relationship they enjoy with the Lord even more than they do the wealth they possess.

Job’s false friend didn’t have spiritual eyes to see the basis of the trial that Job was facing and he didn’t have a true heart of compassion for Job, so he said these words by way of accusation. He cared not that the words he spoke would grind the suffering Job was enduring in his flesh even deeper by the caustic words he spoke into his spirit. He cared not that his words flew in the face of who Job really was or that they totally misunderstood the basis for his circumstances.

Job, a man who had found great favor with God, was put to the test for the same reason that many are today—the enemy of the soul of man, the enemy of the Lord, challenges the Living God to allow strife into their lives to discover the reason they serve Him. Job knew obedience to God was to be extended through the good and bad circumstances of life. He knew prosperity and contentment are found only in conjunction with obedience to the One who is ever faithful and true. Job was tested in this belief, and found faithful!