OUR BAD TIMES ARE JUST A TEST

Proclamation:

"... Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" Job 2:10 (NIV)

Explanation:

With the aid of The Holy Spirit of God Job spoke these words to his friends and his wife after he had suffered.   Job went from being on top of the world (Job 1:1-3) to losing all of his possessions (Job 1:14-17) and then losing all of his children. (Job 1:18-19)  Then he even lost he health (Job 2:7).  "In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing." Job 1:22 (NIV) God allowed Satan to test Job. (Job 1:8 & 2:3-6)  Job passed his test; he kept the faith and did not curse God.  He did eventually question God, but he soon repented for doing that.

Application:

No matter how bad things are going with us, none of us have it as bad as Job had it.  Bad things happen to good people.  Some times we are reaping the results of our own bad choices and some times we are just being tested.  Regardless of why we go through bad times, we are to continue to praise God. (James 1:2)  Satan can only do to us what The Lord God permits.  He knows just how much we can bear.  Remember, after Job passed his tests, God blessed him with twice as much as he had before the bad times began. (Job 42:10)  I am sure that there is a blessing in store for each of us if we keep the faith and endure until the end. (James 1:12)  When bad things happen to us, we should pray and continue to have faith in God.  He can bring us through it, whatever it is.  We can’t have a testimony until we first go through a test.  Bad times are only a test.