"The Lord said to Satan, ‘Have you considered My servant Job? For there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.’" Job 1:8

What a marvelous testimony God gave of Job. Satan had long held the rebellious attitude that God was unfair and that His standard was impossible to live up to. God’s proclamation that Job was righteous and walked blamelessly before the Lord was an arrow through the heart of Satan’s argument.

 Satan replied by saying that Job was only faithful because God had given him a blissful life and had protected him from trouble. He was claiming that Job only served God for what he could get out of Him. The devil went on to charge that Job would reject God if he were to suffer a severe trial. God then gave Satan permission to attack Job within defined boundaries.

Job experienced the lost of his children, financial ruin and terrible afflictions to his body, but in it all he did not sin against God. Some of his friends were convinced that his calamities were a result of hidden sins and that God was punishing him openly.

 There are even some today who preach that God was punishing Job for being self-righteous. But let us remember that God had declared Job a righteous and blameless man unlike any on the earth.

Someone once said that the devil is nothing more than a shovel in the Lord’s work shed. The Bible says that the devil is the enemy working behind many things, but that God is able to turn what he means for evil into something good. That is exactly what happened with Job.

After he faithfully endured the trial God restored with interest what had been taken from Job and greatly blessed him. The greatest of all the blessings was actual contact and fellowship with God. God introduced Himself personally and Job responded saying, -"I had heard of You but now my eyes see."

We learn from Job’s experience that trials and suffering are not always punishment but are sometimes a means to a glorious end. "For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."