Affliction

When tragedy comes, when horrible things happen, we first feel absolutely compelled to look at our lives and see if this came from sin. (John 1: 1-14 Healing at the pool of Bethesda, Jesus says “sin no more or a worse thing may come upon you”)(Ps 7: 3-5) How could we not?

Job at first examines himself with regards to sin. His conclusion is that he did not have sin. There have been sermons in which it is stated that Job did sin, and his sin was fear. This is so absurd. If the illustration here is of a sinless life, then saying Job has sin defeats the entire lesson.

The illustration is of a life that has no sin, at least, a life that is open before God with all sins confessed - a godly man. God told Satan that this man will not curse him even if he has to endure the ravages of Satan. If Job isn't the godly man God said he was, the point is lost.

God tells at the end of the book of Job that his friends are wrong, that Job is not being chastised for sin. To say that he had fear and sinned is then denying what God said to his friends.

One preacher (Jesse Duplantis) explained that the fear the scripture referred to was his fear for his sons. His sons apparently were questionable regarding sin, so he kept offering sacrifices for them so that their sins would be covered.

He was always concerned that their sins would reap terrible consequences. When his life was attacked and their lives were destroyed, he believed that his fear had come upon him.

If we are reaping bad things from sin, if we suffer because of sin, we need to recognize and deal with that area, or we've learned nothing, gained nothing. We may have opened a door for Satan, not knowing.

In Job's case, he didn't open a door through sin. God just took away his protection, and Satan attacked.

We know what to do when Satan attacks us now, many years later, with the writings of the New Testament. Much has been written about dealing with the devil.

When bad things happen, we get stronger, we learn because we allow God to use the thing that has happened for good, according to Romans 8: 28. It doesn't mean that God expressly sent the negative thing that occurred. Satan is in the earth and is always trying to send evil things, shown in Job, where he was anxious to attack. There was a hedge and Satan challenged that.

Mac Hammond preached a very good sermon one Sunday night on this topic.

He preached about how Job had no knowledge of the benefits or the necessity of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6). It was this piece, this missing piece that made all the difference in Job's experience.

He said that indeed the enemy tries to come against us, seeing the hedge about us, complaining. But with the many gifts of the spirit and the blessings of being able to attack back, we are not left to being bludgeoned in the same way as Job anymore.

The book of Job is not written to tell us that we are left to being overwhelmed by the enemy's power as it seems so many try to preach.

But what if Satan has attacked and we have experienced great loss? There we are, already sick, already down, already nearly destroyed.
It doesn’t matter if we have the power to overcome Satan. When Satan came against us, we seemed to lack the power and now it seems too late to fight back. He has already caused destruction. What now?

First we make sure that we are right with God, that all sins are confessed, that we have dealt with sin. If we are right in that area, we move on to faith in healing, and this is faith in the work of Jesus, who primarily went around healing and raising from the dead. There is restoration through the cross.

It is amazing how many people will defend the right to remain sick and broken, ignoring the explicit words of Jesus, which expressly command that we heal the sick and raise the dead.

I believe strongly in the power of communion, especially for those who find they do not have very good fellowship with other believers to rely on. Communion is symbolic of the work of Jesus on the cross and it is His work on the cross that has given us all of the life and power that we need for everything in this life. In a healing class it was made clear to me that his body was broken to heal the body, specifically, and his blood to heal everything else.

We overcome by the blood and communion reminds us of the blood and its power.

The next thing we do Is take up the Sword of The Spirit which is the Word Of God. By reading the Word and speaking God’s Word out loud, we will find great power for restoration and also to prevent further attacks.

It is very helpful to collect verses on specific topics, such as healing, and write them down so you can recite them regularly.

By taking these tools – confession, communion, and the Word Of God, we can find restoration from the destruction that the enemy has caused, and barricade ourselves against his tactics.

We must persevere in faith to see our restoration.