God is good all the time. All the time God is good. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard these words spoken. These words are a mantra for the church, spoken repeatedly to describe God to others. But what happens when we are faced with a challenging situation, one that shakes our faith to the core and makes us question whether God is good all the time?

Some startling situations have hit my family recently and these situations truly make you wonder where God is in all of this. The question I keep hearing is why is God doing this. The answer–He’s not.

As I pray in faith, God keeps reminding me of Job. So, I spend time reading and rereading Job waiting for the answers. After a while, I start to see things a little more clearly. Take a moment to read the first chapter of Job and then rejoin me here to discuss what we are reading.

Job was living the life. He was prosperous, he was loved by others, and he was considered a righteous man, even God thought highly of Job. Now, I want you to use your imagination to picture this scene. God is on His throne in Heaven. The angels are checking in with God letting Him know what they have been up to, this includes Satan. Lurking around God’s throne, Satan is asked where he has been. Smugly, he answers just roaming back and forth from the Earth. God knows exactly where Satan has been and asks about Job.

God’s exact words were, “Have you considered my servant Job?” At first glance, this seems like God is offering up Job on a silver platter to Satan, telling Satan he can have Job to do with as he pleases. But this is not the case. Remember, God knew exactly where Satan has been—he’s been watching Job and is ready to destroy Job and everything connected with him.  God knows Satan wants to test Job’s faith and show God that Job isn’t as upright as God thinks he is. God is asking Satan if he is sure that this is the person he wants to put to the test. God is not offering up Job as a sacrifice for His pleasure. Satan thinks he can get Job to turn against God and God is allowing this test to take place.

It may sound like God is offering Job up to Satan to be tested, but Matthew Henry’s Commentary on Job offers us some insight into this encounter:

“To anticipate his accusations, as if he had said, “Satan, I know thy errand; thou hast come to inform against Job; but hast thou considered him? Does not his unquestionable character give thee the lie?” Note, God knows all the malice of the devil and his instruments against his servants; and we have an advocate ready to appear for us, even before we are accused.”

The keyword in this verse is “considered.” At first glance, we may think, God has just offered up Job. He didn’t. He is asking Satan if he has completely thought his decision through. God is asking Satan, “Have you considered his character and how difficult it will be to get Job to turn against me?” God doesn’t offer us up to Satan. He doesn’t have to. Satan has a mind of his own and would most definitely not take any advice from God. Satan WANTS to be God. He wants to turn everyone on this Earth against God.

Satan is the god of this world (2 Corinthians 4:4). Anything terrible that happens to us is directly from Satan. Illness, weather phenomena, tragedies, and anything horrible that may happen in your life comes from Satan, not God. But somehow God gets the blame for these things because Satan is extremely good at his job of deceiving us. Let’s read the entirety of 2 Corinthians 4:4:

“Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the exact likeness of God.”

The minds of those who don’t believe are often blinded by the deceptions of Satan. Unfortunately, the minds of those who do believe can also be blinded by these same deceptions especially in times of trauma or situations that seem unfair.

God is a good father, a loving father who wants the absolute best for us. God is not making us sick, He is not physically hurting us, and He is not offering us up to Satan on a silver platter. He doesn’t do any of these things just to get our attention and to draw us closer to Him. Recently, I heard an excellent example to drive this point home. Our pastor was preaching on a similar topic and used himself as an example. He has three children whom he dearly loves. What if he woke up one day and thought my kids don’t love me enough so I’m going to give them poison to make them sick that way they will come to me and want me more? We would be horrified if someone did this to their children whom they dearly love.

So why do we think God, who dearly loves us as His children, would do such a thing?

The answer is God would not harm His children. Satan harms God’s children.

So, what is God’s role in our suffering?

God’s role is three-fold: God delivers us from our suffering, God delivers us through our suffering, or God delivers us home to Him. Next week we will discuss the three ways God delivers us from our suffering.