HAVE YOU CONSIDERED MY SERVANT JOB?

Contents

I. Introduction

II. Spiritual Perturbation

III. Manifestations of a Fallen World

IV. Poor Choice

V. Concluding Comments

Illustrations and Tables

Figure 1 Tethered to God by His Cross

Table 1 Trials through the Lens of Refocus

Works Cited and References

Notes

English to Greek Character Mapping

I. Introduction

Job was sincere in his piety—Job loved Jehovah God; and God affirmed that piety. Satan challenged God in this and proposed that Job's piety was a function of blessings, not altruistic devotion. Satan claimed further that if Job were brought low he would curse and abandon God (Job 1:9-11), so God gave Satan a measure of leave to work mischief in Job's life, and Job's piety, noble and sincere as it was, and substantiated by God Himself, stayed not these trials. Why would infinitely good and wise Jehovah God allow such a thing? The question is in fact broader, and age-old: Why do undesirable things happen to God-fearing people? This pulpit is very much interested in that question. Let us remove from the days of Job and jump forward in time to the days of our blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Our Father said of Him: "This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased" (Mat 3:17, 17:5). Jesus, the Beloved Son, also suffered through Satan's devices under the divine permission. Our premise, in keeping with these two examples, is that some suffering is a consequence of spiritual perturbation. We mean hat a spiritual battle prevails in our midst (Gen 3:1-5, Job 2:7, Eph 6:11-13). This battle should not be confused with that ancient Gnostic or Zoroastrian dualistic expression of the same; the battle of which we speak is the contention for human souls. And human souls belong to human beings, all of which are free volitional agents; volitional with respect to allegiance to Jehovah God, or Satan, the two contestants in view here. It follows that this battle will linger as long as souls are contestable. Whether we choose to be a part of this battle, or not, whether we acknowledge, or approve of it, or not, does not matter—we are all involved in this battle as long as we live precisely because we are its prize. Indeed, a prize for partnership in a loving fellowship unto life everlasting as concerns Jehovah God's interests in the battle (Jehovah is humankind's protagonist in this struggle), or a prize for partnership in a strangling fellowship unto eternal death as concerns Satan's interests in the battle (Satan is humankind's antagonist in this struggle). Given the battle's spiritual nature, any consequential suffering is humanly unsearchable (timing, magnitude, vehicle, length, depth of personal reach, collateral effect, etc). Spiritual perturbation, then, is one factor that contributes to the suffering of God-fearing people.

We live in a fallen world, and this is another factor that contributes to the suffering of God-fearing people. It is through this factor that all manner of disease, decay, and death manifest themselves, and not just in the physical sense, or on an individual basis—disease , decay, and death of all sort, perpetrated and unperpetrated, as a consequence of diverse catalysis, in a person, a family, a community, a nation. Whereas the suffering accruing to spiritual perturbation is not so easily identifiable oftentimes, the suffering that enters as a consequence of this factor is easily identifiable; indeed, we all understand the constituents comprising this factor all too well. It may be said that the aforementioned spiritual battle is intimately connected with this factor in many different ways, and Jehovah, our protagonist and our God, has sacrificially resolved to do battle with Satan, His adversary and ours, precisely to remediate the sorry conditions attending this factor.

And then there is poor choice. These are the disobedient, or ignorant, or irresponsible, or undisciplined decisions God-fearing people make that vector straight to disaster and its attendant suffering of one sort or another.

Spiritual perturbation, together with the manifestations of a fallen world, and poor choice, are factors which contribute to the suffering of God-fearing people. Clearly there is overlap between these factors; for example, choice of lifestyle affects physical and spiritual health, but some degree of that choice is influenced by spiritual persuasion; predisposition to spiritual persuasion is probably a matter of choice to some degree, and so on. The subject we wish to examine in this pulpit is delicate, and complex—constituent factors are difficult to exhaustively set forth, much less to circumstantiate, hence this pulpit will be selective in nature. It will examine the three factors discussed above with an eye to their role in the suffering of God-fearing people:

• Spiritual perturbation.

• Manifestations of a fallen world.

• Poor choice.

II. Spiritual Perturbation

The LORD said to Satan, "Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil" (Job 1:8 NASB [we also like the NLT and YLT-BLB versions]).

“Have you considered My servant Job...” God knew His man Job; He knew his heart; He knew Job was willingly tethered to God; He knew Job was a lover of God. God judged Job to be blameless, a God-fearer, one who loved what God loved and hated what God hated (expressed acquiescence to, agreement with, God); God was in effect telling Satan that Job was holy [1] in His eyes (God assesses holiness by His own Standard; “Be Holy,” “Righteous Faith”). Notice that by God's measure Job was the only holy person on earth at that time (God always has a remnant that is tethered to Him). It is inconceivable that God would say these words (Job 1:8) to Satan without knowing exactly what could be expected of Job; God knew His man Job thoroughly. Satan had been 'roaming about and walking around' on the earth before he came into God's presence (Job 1:7)—here is trouble. What was he doing in his 'roaming about and walking around' on the earth? We must turn to the New Testament for the answer—he was prowling; he was seeking someone to devour (1Pe 5:8). Notice that Satan is a prowler (=intruder, stalker, trespasser). And he prowls so as to devour; so as to devour human souls. God's composed, confident, stately words “Have you considered My servant Job...” make good sense against this backdrop: Have you considered him as a target for intrusion? Have you been stalking him so as to devour his soul, which is tantamount to asking: Have you been stalking him so as to occasion his disconnection from Me? In essence, God was saying to Satan: There is no way in for you with my servant Job—stalk and trespass all you wish, his heart is tethered to Mine, for this I know. God had faith in Job's connectedness to Himself because He assessed precisely the depth and veracity of that connectedness; and God knew that Job's umbilical connection to Himself would preserve Job to the uttermost, thus the Infinite Wisdom gave Satan a measure of leave to work mischief in Job's life, for God Himself would be Job's strength in his trials owing to Job's conscious choice to tether himself to God. We learn here that connectedness to God is not always a shield against trials, but always preservation in the midst of trials. Trials may foster dependence upon God, and so trials may be allowed for that very reason, for practiced dependence upon God sustains life (Isa 46:4), be it physical or spiritual. Said differently, since physical life presently and eternal life eventually are served by dependence upon God, and it is trials, whatever their source, that strengthen dependence upon God and serve the attendant life issuance that accrues to that dependence, it follows that even though trials are not pleasant usually, they are always expedient when they lead to greater dependence upon God. Thus God engineers the individual's greater good by allowing trials into their life for this reason. One may suspect coercion here, but God does not coerce contested souls into dependence upon Himself (unbeknownst to Job, he was certainly being contested); God's faithfulness to His promises, which promises reflect His character, prove experientially (that is, individually, personally) that dependence upon Him is quintessential life (Psa 34:8). It is important not to lose sight of the big picture here by overly focusing on this manner of trial and losing sight of its cause—spiritual perturbation comes because human souls, God-fearers or otherwise, are being contested, as described above; this is a key fact to tuck away. In turn, some trials manifest themselves on the human plane as a consequence of that contest (= the Salvation struggle). What was just said about these trials being allowed by God follows from that: Spiritual perturbation comes first; some trials may necessarily follow on the heels of that, and God then engineers enduring good out of the undesirable. It attests to His deity that He can 'turn trials per se around on their heels' so to speak and into a position where they serve His holy purposes (Isa 55:11, Rom 8:28-29). Scripture shows us this elegant God-maneuver-scenario over and over again—God is never thwarted by His adversary; and that means His people need never be thwarted by that same adversary [2]. But please note that preservation in the midst of trials and beyond as discussed here presupposes an intimate connection to Jehovah God (consider the end of both Jesus and Job's trials; Fig. 1).

The classic example of spiritual perturbation involves Jesus Himself when He was tempted in the wilderness (“A Threefold Test”). Were it not for our Champion Jesus, Satan could have laid claim to all of humanity all at once: The fate of humankind hung in the balance when Satan launched his attack against our Lord at that time (compare “Holy Week: Holy Week Part 2”). From a military perspective, Satan's move in attacking Jesus was very ambitious and bold, and yet entirely consistent with what he continues to do to this day one soul at a time (here is a form of spiritual perturbation); of course when he attacked our Lord, he had in mind to end the battle all at once by stripping Jesus of His credentials as Savior. As we discuss in the “A Threefold Test” pulpit, he struck at Jesus in His flesh when He was in a weakened condition; one can only marvel at how our Lord turned the table on Satan leaving him “holding an empty bag” so to speak—besides all the good and holy things that can be said about our Lord Jesus, one should add to that list that He is the quintessential Hero; even ours, for He was fighting for us here in His denial of self. Satan's attack of our Lord makes clear his resolve—the audacity to attack our Lord God like that reflects a brazen intent that will do whatever it takes to snuff the physical and/or spiritual life out of anyone [3].

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded permission to sift you [plural] like wheat; but I have prayed for you [plural; the rest of the 2^nd person addresses that follow are singular], that your faith may not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, strengthen your brothers" (Luk 22:31-32 NASB; cf. BLB versions).

This passage is highly telling in this context. For starters, it confirms yet again the reality of the spiritual perturbation we are addressing; it also leads us to the next important aspect of this reality: Satan is handcuffed so to speak such that he cannot wreak havoc at will; his freedom to perpetrate evil is a function of the divine permission. It is clear that spiritual perturbation, and therefore those trials that stem from the same, manifest themselves only by way of the divine permission, a permission required when a child of God is Satan's target, for it is obvious that Satan does not need permission to flay his own; he must however request permission when a child of God is his target because he cannot touch God's property without permission, as these verses suggest.

Notice further that our Champion prays for His own (He understands this particular vexation firsthand [Hbr 2:17-18]). What this means is that He is observant of Satan's moves (this really goes without saying since our Lord is omniscient); He is fully aware of the situation seeing He is instant in prayer when His own come under attack—if He allows a trial of this sort into our lives it comes with His consummate supervision of and salvific interest in the action. And notice the end of His blessed prayer here: “That your faith may not fail...” Jesus is after faith. One may wonder—what faith, and why? Faith in God (=connectedness to Him); that the same fail not. When Jesus prays that prayer He is, at least, praying for our preservation (physical, spiritual) in the midst of the trial, for connectedness to God (=faith in Him by default) drives said preservation by the power of the very God one is connected to.

III. Manifestations of a Fallen World

We wish to delve into the domain of the mundane for a brief setup and then we shall return to our theological thrust. There are three Greek “EN” words that are highly pervasive in the secular sciences that will help set things up: ENERGEIA, ENTHALPEIN, and ENTROPIA (character map). The familiar terms energy, enthalpy, and entropy stem from these Greek words. We like to think of the prefix “EN” here dynamically, not statically: EN<—>INTO. Let us put forth a simple description of these terms and their essential place in God's universe. There is in the universe a certain intangible [4]. It manifests itself quite tangibly nonetheless sometimes as (practical) work, or ENERGEIA—“into work” (energy). For example, gravity does work on an object when that object falls through a given distance under the influence of the force of gravity. One's arm muscles do work against the force of friction in pushing a book some distance across a tabletop, and so on. This intangible may also manifest itself quite tangibly as heat, or ENTHALPEIN—“into heat” (enthalpy). There is an equivalence between energy and heat, thus heat can do work. This intangible may also manifest itself in such a way that no work can be done with it; in this case the intangible has undergone a change; a turning from the practical to the impractical, or ENTROPIA—“into turning” (entropy—entropy is related to the amount of disorder in a system—literally a turning from order to disorder; the more disorder, the more entropy); in the latter case there has been a change, a turning has occurred, with the consequence that this intangible has been degraded in the sense that not all of it is available any more for the doing of practical things: Anytime the entropy increases in any system, the available amount of this intangible in the universe with which to do work decreases commensurately. The second law of thermodynamics, the so-called “arrow of time” law, relates precisely that life's processes proceed in such a direction as to increase entropy; that is to say, life's processes largely proceed irreversibly (an ice cube melting in one's hand illustrates an irreversible process—note the change/turning toward disorder in the ice cube system). The final point of the setup may now be said: The entropy in the universe is ever increasing. We have at our disposal ever less and less of the intangible we mentioned, and so are less able to do practical things (intrinsically with respect to biological self and extrinsically as concerns the world around us). Put another way: The universe is degrading in this sense; systems tend to break down (move toward disorder); systems maintain a robust status quo only transiently [5]. Given this setup, let us return to our theological thrust.

Then to Adam He said, "Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat from it'; Cursed is the ground because of you; In toil you will eat of it All the days of your life. "Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you; And you will eat the plants of the field; By the sweat of your face you will eat bread, Till you return to the ground, Because from it you were taken; For you are dust, And to dust you shall return" (Gen 3:17-19 NASB).

It is inevitable that fallen-world-trials will visit God-fearing people, because we all live in such a world. Science, by way of its statement of the ever-increasing entropy in God's universe, only confirms what God said at the beginning: In this life, decay and death are ultimately to be the norm. It is not hard to see the second law of thermodynamics established here [6]; sure, it is Sin that ignominiously crowns said norm, but it is God's judgment of Sin that establishes this norm—the second law follows from God's judgment of Sin. We are not surprised that the entropy in the universe is ever increasing, for if it were not so, Gen 3:17-19 would necessarily read quite differently (cf. Isa 24:4-6, Jer 12:4, 7:19-20, Ecc 3:20, Rom 8:20-23; but note Jesus, Paul-Jhn 16:33, Phl 4:11-13).

In this section we have focused on the biological/physical (disease, death) and mechanical (breakage, loss) aspects of the Fall, and have both qualified and to some degree quantified the same through an apparent relationship to entropy increase in the universe. We must now change focus because there is a characteristically human aspect of the Fall that imposes far-reaching, oppressive trial upon God-fearing people, namely abuse, deceit, gossip, heartless indifference, injury, murder, prejudice, slander, trust breaking, usurpation, violation/s, and on it goes like that ad nauseam. God only knows how much His people have bled (inside and outside) owing to this human factor. On display here is the wickedness of the human heart (Jer 17:9, Mar 7:20-23). The wickedness of the human heart is probably responsible for more human trial, and more often, than the other factors considered in this pulpit combined; this is probably a fair guess, for undoubtedly much of the trial, though certainly not all, that comes by way of spiritual perturbation discussed above manifests itself through Satan's flesh and blood cronies, and the poor choice yet to be discussed oftentimes is motivated by inappropriate reaction to negative human interface of one sort or another. In fact, the pervasive, sin-hemorrhaging Fall we are considering in this section, and the wickedness of the human heart, are inclined to affirm and sustain one another; only divine intervention could possibly interrupt and wheel about unto good such an otherwise hopeless condition. Thank you great savior God, for stepping into the middle of this wheelhouse of destruction, so as to stop the bleeding, even ours, even though it meant such great blood loss to yourself.

It is clear that trials will come to God-fearing people through the manifestations of a fallen world in many ways, and more often than one can seemingly bear sometimes (Mat 6:34b). Since God is outside the created order, He has total control over life's processes—life's processes proceed in the direction that He chooses for them, as attested so clearly by the resurrection of Jesus Christ—here is defiance of the second law, the irreversible made reversible by the power of Almighty Jehovah God, the Sovereign of the universe. And yet God, though He is obviously able to do otherwise, allows these fallen-world-trials into our lives; moreover, He oftentimes will not remove trial even though one may literally beg Him to do so with much prayer and fasting, and many tears. With God's help, we shall in the concluding comments section endeavor to address why this might be so.

IV. Poor Choice

(Abraham, Absalom, Bathsheba, Cain, David, Esau, Eve, Hezekiah, Jacob, John Mark, Jonah, Josiah, Judah, Judas, Lot's wife, Moses, Peter, Rachel, Saul x 2, Tamar, Uzziah, maybe you, without doubt me...)—these people, not all God-fearers, nonetheless fit into one or more of the categories of poor choice- related trial discussed below, either with respect to trial brought upon themselves and/or others.

Conscious, purposed disobedience to Jehovah God (Sin) is always a poor choice; sinning always leads to trial sooner or later, either our own, or others', or both. We suppose it is this way for two main reasons: Foremost because God disciplines His own when they sin (Hbr 12:6-11); but also because Sin is outside the will of God for our lives, and thus by default one becomes vulnerable because God's will for us is entirely upbeat; disobedience places one outside of God's upbeat well-being-zone—by personal choice. Trial may also come by way of ignorant choices (innocent mistakes; absent-mindedness is a distant cousin here); one may simply not know what to do, or which path to choose, and instead of patiently waiting for counsel from God (Psa 27:14), one may choose based on faulty human counsel, or best-guessing (especially if one feels flustered owing to some measure of pressure attending the decision), and so suffer the consequences by way of trial that could have been avoided had a cooler head or wiser Counsel prevailed. Trial may come by way of irresponsible choices—like Esau—consider how long he suffered owing to that irresponsible decision he made (Gen 25:31-34; Scripture does not consider Esau to be a God-fearer of the sort we are considering in this pulpit [Hbr 12:16]; the same may be said of David of course, more than once [2Sa 11:2-15, 24:10]; David's irresponsible choices were definitely disobedient also). Irresponsible choices may also bring trial by way of the company one chooses to keep (Pro 13:20). Trial may visit a God-fearing person due to undisciplined choices. Consider a person who disdains any advice concerning the food they eat as a simple example. They may love God with all their heart, and sacrificially and sincerely serve Him, but trial will visit their life sooner or later because they have undisciplined eating habits (even in the area of eating God places before us choices-“Junk Foodie”). The same may be said of one's choice of lifestyle here—if it is irresponsible, trial is sure to follow sooner or later in one way or another. Of course the poorest choice of all, the most irresponsible, is to reject, is to stiff-arm, Jesus Christ (Mat 22:2-5). To reject Him is to welcome everlasting trial (Hbr 10:26-29).

V. Concluding Comments

The subject of trials—their causes, their sources, their reach, hope in the midst of them, God's role in them, the suffering, and so on, is a very delicate and complex subject. And a presentation that endeavors to address this subject would be in very poor taste, and of little use to God and others, if it were simply a work of prose with some clever ideas tucked into a few paragraphs here and there. This subject cannot be circumspectly put forth unless one has tasted the pain of trial firsthand. In that respect dear friend we are not without experience; we are not insensitive to trial, for we have tasted it in a debilitating sort of way (owing to disobedient and irresponsible choice)—were it not for God's loving grace and tender mercy, we would not have the capacity or the faculty to write this pulpit, let alone the wherewithal to write our name. And what God has taught us through trial, we are motivated to share with you so that you might rejoice all the more in our Father God, and find precious comfort and unparalleled hope through Him in your sufferings and trials. Your situation will certainly be different than ours was, but the conclusions we shall draw in the balance of this section we think will overlap any situation, for in the end we will be ringing the golden bell of intimate connectedness to our Father Jehovah God. Allow us to say again: Therein is life; nay, therein is quintessential life.

The subject we sought to address in this pulpit was why God-fearing people, like Job of old, or dedicated Christians down through the ages, suffer trial. The question presupposes that somehow they should not; that they should not because they are sons and daughters of the God of the universe, who can deflect trials in such a way that they never visit His own. The life and death of Jesus Christ negates that presupposition in no uncertain terms however, for if the Son of God suffered all manner of trial while He was in this world, His brothers and sisters, the children of God, will also suffer all manner of trial while they are in this world [7].

We began this pulpit by considering how trial visits God-fearing people, and offered that there were three broad avenues for its approach: Spiritual perturbation, the manifestations of a fallen world, and poor choice. We pointed out that there was overlap between these three avenues—boundaries are not clearly delineated; notwithstanding, we have always found it good to “SPRA”— stop, pray, reflect, and ask (God): Where is this trial coming from? And usually one of these three areas or some combination thereof will be the source of the trial. Sometimes half the battle is won just by knowing what, and from which direction, a vexation is coming.

We started by discussing spiritual perturbation. We said that spiritual perturbation, a very present reality, is spiritual warfare; it is a fight with eternal consequences, and it is being fought on the human plane for human souls. Jesus Christ is central to this struggle, and Satan, our enemy, prowls the earth so as to blind humankind to the Salvation (life eternal in the presence of Jehovah God) found in Jesus Christ—here is spiritual perturbation manifested most conspicuously (2Cr 4:4). Nonetheless, Job, at least, is a good example of how trial may visit humankind in the flesh and in circumstance by way of spiritual perturbation. In that sense the various human addictions and vices are probably to a good degree related to spiritual perturbation, though here one should find overlap with other sources, poor choice particularly. Moreover, what Satan did to Job would seem to make it clear that some bodily and/or psychological suffering may well be demonically induced. This would follow from Jesus as well seeing that Jesus dealt with the same oppressive vexations in His day (Mat 8:28, 15:22, Mar 9:17, Luk 4:33). Again, it is good to remember that Salvation is and always has been the reason for these things:

Our God longs for people to come to Him for eternal life, but Satan, in his jealousy of humankind's exalted position before God owing to Salvation, and in servicing his murderous hatred of God and God's in-Christ-exalted children (especially hatred of Jesus, the second person of the Godhead, upon whom rests God's salvation-Standard), seeks to inhibit any possibility for Salvation in any way possible, for he knows that once Salvation is settled for a given soul, the battle is lost as far as his Salvation-inhibiting realizations are concerned.

Importantly, we are not left without guidance here: Scripture shows us how we are to engage this cruel enemy (Eph 6:11-17). Furthermore, as we pointed out in the main text, Jesus is prayerfully attuned to Satan's schemes—our Savior protects His own, allowing Satan only limited freedom of movement. Scripture makes it clear that he cannot make even the slightest move against God's children without permission—the situation is well under control on our behalf by way of God's sovereignty; by way of God's power.

We discussed the manifestations of a fallen world as a factor that brings trial to God-fearing people. The world in which we live is far from perfect; in fact, science explains well its limitations—the trend is toward ever increasing disorder. It is inevitable that fallen-world trials will visit God-fearing people, for this trend is evident biologically as well as mechanically; indeed, in any system. Science clearly confirms here what God decreed at the Fall [8]—decay and death are to be the norm in this world. Said norm does not bode well for those who cannot see beyond this world.

In this section we discussed another, bleaker, if that be possible, factor that brings trial—the wickedness of the human heart. This is a sad report on the human condition. Abuse, deceit, gossip, heartless indifference, injury, murder, prejudice, slander, trust breaking, usurpation, violation/s, etc.; these are some of the killing instruments humankind utilizes on its killing fields one to another. As said, we suppose that the lion's share of the trial that visits humankind is found right here. When one stops and considers the other sources of trial over against this one, it pains one to think that our deepest sorrows oftentimes come from fellow human beings, for when considering those other sources, it becomes so clear that life is very tenuous—we need each other for comfort and support and survival, but the reality is we do just the opposite; we are as good at maiming and killing and tearing down and trampling one another underfoot as any other source of trial. Truly, this human factor's unmitigated inertia down through the ages shows that only God can remediate this sad human condition; God reaching in from the outside and lifting humankind up and into a holy existence. That is what God has offered through Jesus Christ; it is what Jesus Christ has made possible; it is rebirth of spirit unto holiness by the power of the Spirit of God (Jhn 3:1-8, “John Chapter Three Commentary”). Notice how our omniscient Lord isolated the source of the problem as concerns the human condition in His conversation with Nicodemus here; only God could have perceived to prescribe that kind of treatment (metamorphosis/rebirth of spirit unto holiness), especially in light of it coming in response to Nicodemus' declarative.

We discussed poor choice and trial, and talked about disobedient choices. Disobedient choices are those that consciously and determinedly break God's Law (this is Sin). We said that to choose Sin always leads to trial sooner or later. We said it was likely this way for two main reasons: Foremost because God disciplines His own when they sin (Hbr 12:6-11); but also because Sin is outside the will of God for our lives, and thus by default one becomes vulnerable, because God's will for people is entirely upbeat.

We talked about ignorant choices—these are the choices we make out of ignorance that largely end up as (innocent) mistakes, and mistakes so very often bring far-reaching trial because they are very much accident prone. It is always the wise choice to seek God's counsel in matters and then to patiently wait for Him. Pastor-led workshops on patiently waiting for God are probably a good idea, for they would serve the safety and well-being of God's Bride materially, physically, and spiritually (“Patiently Waiting for God').

We talked about irresponsible choices. Irresponsible choices reveal a deficiency in stewardship. It only follows that such care-free, loose choice is rife with potential disaster because inherent to that choice is very little or no commitment and/or concern for a positive outcome; the irresponsible choice sees it as “six of one, half a dozen of the other;” in other words, “no big deal,” let come what may, as long as I get what I want now (here is attendant shortsightedness as well). This is a recipe for disaster. We cited Esau's birthright choice as an example in the main text. We further related that the choice of the company one keeps, if irresponsible, may fold back on oneself as stinging trial of various kind. Irresponsible choice is bad enough in the domain of the mundane, but spiritually, one can do worse. One can reject Jesus Christ in lieu of other ideas about God, or maybe in lieu of a preferred lifestyle. Friend, to reject this Jesus, this great savior God, is to invite trial without end. May you be wise enough to tether yourself to Him and live; indeed, live forever. May our great Jehovah God give you the wisdom to make this most excellent choice.

We talked abut undisciplined choices. In this world all processes tend toward disorder. We believe it has been like that since the Fall. Undisciplined choices will almost by default fold back on oneself as trial of one sort or another because our bodies, our relationships, our work, you name it, need constant, disciplined attention to maintain an optimum level of health and performance owing to the degenerative operatives ever at work in each of these areas.

Poor choice is insidious in that we make choices that suit us, and most often we are quick to justify those choices to others, but especially to ourselves. And once justified, they may well persist unchecked to a costly end.

We may now draw a conclusion and address the points we deferred addressing above. It is our premise that trial visits God-fearing people in large part to strengthen their dependence upon God and in turn their life-sustaining connectedness to Him (the former drives the latter, and the latter reaches beyond the painful moment). This raises some questions though: In the case of spiritual perturbation, is God in league with Satan to serve His own purposes? In general, does God take advantage of trial to foster faith in Himself? These questions have sound answers: The answers are no to the former question, and yes to the latter one. God cannot be in league with Satan no matter what the reason because deity cannot fellowship with evil; such fellowship would be theologically inconsistent; that is, a contradiction of Christian theology (1Jo 1:5; the point is that God would by such fellowship contradict the very words He inspired and so disqualify Himself as deity; this option must be dismissed on theological grounds tempered by logic. The logical reason tempered by theology follows from Jesus [Luk 11:15-22]). What about the question of God taking advantage of trials to foster faith in Himself? It is not hard to understand that trials in a fallen world fraught with poor choices, and under the rule of Satan (Jhn 12:31, Jhn 16:11), are inevitable. But God endeavors to turn the inevitable here into an umbilical connectedness to Himself that sustains life; this is positive, and good, and complements God's characterization of Himself. The answer to the second question is yes in that God refocuses the inevitable to serve the individual's greater good according to His purposes for them (Tab. 1; consider Deu 8:3). But God cannot bring to fruition this greater good in someone's life without their faith in Him, thus He may allow trials to foster, or deepen, such faith. As said, trials per se are inevitable; the table's list of trial refocus carries the negative (in the sense that trials are usually painful and unpleasant) into the domain of the positive—it is long-term, constructive refocus of the negative. The victory of this refocus, this long-term positive, finds expression when faith in God does not fail (quit, give up) in the face of these refocusing trials, for their end goal is precisely a refocus unto ever deeper faith in God, which faith (connectedness) is quintessential life (=Salvation-eternal life in His presence, starting today).

Because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me—to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong (2Cr 12:7-10 NASB).

God's power works best in weakness, because then it is not shunted by human pretensions of power. Thus Paul can say '...for when I am weak, then I am strong.' Paul implored God three times to remove his trial, but God did not remove it, and why? Because God wanted to do powerful and mighty things through Paul. Friend, if you are one of His, and He let you enter the wheelhouse of trial, and you find yourself still living there, lift up your eyes, because God Almighty, the Sovereign of this universe, wants to do powerful and mighty things—through you.

Praised be your Name Lord Jesus, powerful and mighty savior God.

Illustrations and Tables

Figure 1. Tethered to God by His Cross-One's Preservation Turns on That.

Table 1. Trials through the Lens of Refocus.

Table 1 sources: A.s.

English (transliteration)-->Greek Character Mapping

Works Cited and References

“A Last Goodbye.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/scenario35.html >

“A Savior's Work.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/asaviorswork.html >

“A Threefold Test.”

Jesus, Amen.

< https://jesusamen.org/athreefoldtest.html >

“Be Holy.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/beholy.html >

Gentry, Robert V.

Creation's Tiny Mystery.

Knoxville: Earth Science Associates 1992.

“Holy Week: Holy Week Part 2.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/holyweek.html >

“Junk Foodie.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/scenario8.html >

“Patiently Waiting for God.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/scenario18.html >

“Righteous Faith.”

Jesus, Amen.

< http://jesusamen.org/righteousfaith.html >

Notes

1. We believe that Job's consummate holiness awaited the appearance of Jesus Christ and the Cross of Redemption.

2. Friend, you may read in these words idealism and a positive spin for God, but consider: How else could the record turn out when deity is acting? We would be dismayed if it did not in fact unfold this way time and again; but the record does not leave us dismayed.

3. We suppose that this killer seeks to kill because of humankind's exalted position around the throne of God. Small wonder that Jesus, the catalyst of that exaltation, and believers/followers of Jesus, the beneficiaries of that exaltation, are ever in Satan's cross-hairs; here is spiritual perturbation's motivation—jealousy and murderous hatred against the backdrop of unfathomable missed opportunity. What a sorry and disgusting picture per se, but more so, in light of all the painful wreckage that follows in that picture's wake. Notice that Satan has nothing substantive and positive to gain ultimately owing to his irredeemable fall; indeed, in any conceivable way. It can thus be said that any “gain” by him must necessarily be regarded as entirely apparent, and negative; therefore, any effort by him toward that end is very, very dangerous for all of humankind, given the authority he is yet allowed to wield, and so calls for the kind of preservation that we are endeavoring to set forth in this pulpit (in short, intimate connectedness to God through Jesus Christ).

4. All systems (biological, computational, mechanical) in the universe constantly exchange this intangible between themselves and their surroundings. This intangible cannot be created nor destroyed, it simply changes form continuously—it transitions into one form and proportionally out of its other characteristic forms in such a way as to conserve its sum total. We believe its sum total was injected into the created order at Creation by Jehovah God in its ordered (work-practical) form. This intangible could not have arisen spontaneously, as suggested by some, for that would be a definite violation of the second law of thermodynamics, which law has a sound empirical basis. Creation is the only reasonable explanation for its presence in the universe.

5. These are facts of life that science qualifies in its own learned way, largely to the exclusion of Jehovah God's deeper and more profound explanation of the same.

6. Death is the ultimate expression of entropy increase, for it is certainly an irreversible disordering process in the mundane sense.

7. Every time we celebrate the Lord's Supper we should remember our Lord's trials and not expect our life to be too much different than His was in that regard—we have fellowship (KOINWNIA character map) with His broken body and shed blood; with His sufferings; after all, we eat that bread (symbolic of His broken body) and drink that cup (symbolic of His shed blood) to bring to recollection His death; to bring to recollection His redeeming death for us (1Cr 11:23-26).

8. God's Word lends credence to/establishes the very science that aligns with Him. The trend in modern science is away from espousing a sovereign Creator God; over the years we have observed that this Godless science has gotten hopelessly buried in futile enfolding efforts to prove its various tenets. In words, this Godless science is “spinning its wheels but not getting anywhere.” But the science that aligns with God's Word is on good footing and is pushing into exciting new research frontiers.

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