Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason? Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.”
Satan didn’t believe that Job’s motives were pure. He didn’t believe that Job feared and served God because he loved God, but because God had given him so much. After all, Job was one of the richest men in the East. From Satan’s point of view, the only reason why Job feared and served God was because there was something in it for him. In effect, Satan was saying that Job was a fair-weather servant, that Job’s fear and service were superficial and conditional.
Satan thought that all it would take to get Job to curse God to His face would be to give him a test by sending some adversity his way (Job 1:11). It’s not that hard to see why Satan would believe this, because it’s so often true. For many people, all it takes is a few trials, troubles, or tribulations to get them to give up on God. Their fear and service of God truly is weak and superficial.
Job, as it became clear, was not like that at all. He passed the test. Satan was proven wrong. Although he complained to God about how he was being treated, he never gave up on God. When his wife, whose own fear and service were conditional, urged him to curse God and die, he said, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (Job 2:9-10). Job not only passed the test, he became the hero of every believer that has trouble in life.
Today, you may be going through some Job-like trials and troubles. Today, Satan may be trying to prove that your fear and service of God is conditional. Stand firm and show him that your faith is genuine.
