God's wall of fire

Job 1:8-11 NIV

Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”  “Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

As we run the race called life, there are daily experiences that will question the quality and depth of our convictions and beliefs. A lot of us wonder just how there can be a loving God in the face of all the disasters, diseases and deaths all around us. People ask how a loving God can permit the immorality, iniquity and unrighteousness all around us. If God is so good as he proclaims, and he is in charge as people claim he is, why is there so much evil around us?
Today's passage gives an insight into these agitations. If there's anyone here on earth who expects a free ride into eternity, such a person is open to deceit. If anyone thinks that Christianity is a sure escape route from the reality called life, that thought is rooted in error. God did not promise us earthly comfort and conveniences by the standards of this world; what he has promised us and which is evident from the passage above is his presence, power, protection and provision.
Picture the scenario with Job: an upright man, who shunned evil, did good, brought up his children to fear the Lord. You would expect that life will be sweet. But here is the devil, seeking to spoil that joy. Watch Satan's confession: "you have put a hedge around Job and all he has, and blessed the work of his hands". Believe this: a fervent, faithful Christian life does not shield you from trials and temptations and no amount of acquisitions and possessions can keep you out of the firing line of the devil. He will keep trying and tempting but God's sure Word is the standard. Even the devil knows those who are truly serving God and who have been blessed by him and he will try the quality of your convictions.
There is a joyful note in Job's experience: God gave the terms, conditions and limits of Satan's attempts to shake Job's faith. When we are tempted and we think we cannot cope anymore, God is working behind the scenes, supplying the strength to endure to the end. All of God's greatest vessels and instruments used to do exploits have been tested and approved by God through various trials and temptations. God always allows us to go through the fire so we can be purified like gold, better than we were in the past, and prepared for greater assignments.
Even the devil does not understand the depths of God's strength and enablement. He thought that if he could take all that Job had, Job would curse God. Are you serving God for what you can get or what you are expecting from him? A true child of God knows his father and he thrives first on the relationship and fellowship that knowledge brings before talking about the benefits to be derived from that relationship. Most of us have mastered the art of always asking for more, never really bothered about what God really wants from and for us.
Today, as we run the race, let us be conscious of the person, power and purpose of the God we claim to serve. Let us depend on his grace, strength, wisdom and direction to know how to live right and to endure temptations. God has put a hedge around his children and even the devil, as powerful as he claims, must take permission from God before he can go round that hedge. Relax in God, nothing catches him by suprise and nothing can break his plan and purpose for your life, not even the most powerful forces of this world. Rejoice, for his time of favour is here.