Dr. Sexson told us today the book of Job can be summed up in only a couple sentences.
Satan bets that he can get Job to curse God's name, if Job should have to suffer. Satan takes away everything Job has and Job does not curse God's name. In the end everything is returned to him and his life is as good as before.
So why is this easily summarized story so hard for people to grasp? It's because it leads to the question many ask now and again, "Why me?"
Job was a good man, and the Bible clearly shows how pious and righteous a man he is, and yet God makes him suffer to prove a point.
What does that mean for the rest of us? Those who aren't morally bad people, but just do bad things now and again. If you're a believer, I suppose you have to turn to your faith, like Job. If you're a non-believer than you need to pull yourself up by your bootstraps and keep truckin' with the hope that all will be restored. Life comes at you fast, and there is little you can do about it...for example, I got hit by a bicycle today, didn't even see it coming.
Well after watching the South Park clip, I still feel as I have all along, God did this to show to humans as well as to Satan how dedicated we (humans) are to him. We must follow God through the wicked to get to the beautiful things on earth. Even as he may take away a persons most treasured gifts (whether it is family or the new cow), everything in life is replaceable (I traded ocean for the mountains and now when I visit New Hampshire I appreciate it that much more), and we only learn this through loss. A person is never able to appreciate how great something is until it is broken. Remember when you were five years old building a grand old castle with your lego's? Then your older brother came and smashed it as if he were Godzilla? Maybe not but I never appreciated how much fun that lego castle was and how many hours I spent building it until it was gone. Just as Job spent years building up his fortune, farm, and family; maybe his new children will not replace his former or his wife will not be able to rock his world like his old one but he will now appreciate everything he had much more now that they are gone.
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