Good morning,
I was reading the chapter about Job from “The Suffering and the Saints”* book recently. So wonderful! As I was reading, I couldn’t help but think about Michelle’s testimony and how closely it parallels Job’s testimony. Granted, Michelle has not been through the kind of extreme suffering that Job went through. She did not suffer with boils all over her body or the death of her children, loss of all her material possessions, terrible nightmares, everyone forsaking her, etc. But she has suffered, nonetheless. She went through loss of husband, loss of home, sickness of her daddy, sickness for herself, and her children’s troubles. It seemed like it was one thing right after another, pushing Michelle to the point of not knowing how much more she could take. At her lowest point, Jesus had to help her just to breathe.
Through all of the sufferings, however, Michelle knew, just like Job did, that the Lord had done it!
Job said in 1:21, “the LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD!”
Michelle testified the other morning at your house, “The thought that thrills my soul. That makes me feel so safe and taken care of is being able to say ‘Lord! You have put on, and You have taken off! And I praise you for every bit of it! Thank you so much!’”
They both glorified God for having given them blessings and for having taken them away. And they both understood that the road leading out of their sufferings was the way of holiness. You wrote, “A man who does not know that God loves him cannot do that. A man who does not trust God’s wisdom cannot do that. And a man who believes in other gods, including Satan, as having power to determine destruction for the saints cannot do that”. Both Job and Michelle knew God too well to believe that anyone other than their Creator could take away their blessings, unless He determined it could be done. When Job’s wife told him just to go ahead and “curse God and die,” Job told her she was foolish for saying that. He told her, “Shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”
Both Job and Michelle received their suffering “without cause”, but they both knew it was not without purpose. As for Job’s sufferings, you wrote, “But that there was at least one purpose in Job’s sufferings, multiplied thousands of saints can bear witness who have been strengthened in the face of sorrow by Job’s example”. Michelle testified to how reading Job had strengthened her. And now Michelle’s testimony can encourage us!
You wrote, “Job knew that God was responsible (for his sufferings), and that God loved him and would be glorified in his complete deliverance if he would patiently wait for that salvation in the way of righteousness. That is perfected faith. That is faith that is rooted in the unshakable foundation of God’s goodness and power and wisdom”. Similarly, Michelle testified about keeping her feet firmly planted until that last wave hits, just as she had read in your father’s gospel Tract, “Standing Still in Jordan”. You responded to Michelle, “Unmovable. Unshakeable. Established. That’s Jesus!” I love that!
I finished reading the Job chapter and then had this thought, “What if Michelle hadn’t known that her sufferings were from the hand of her Creator? What if she had blamed the Devil for her sufferings?” Instead of testifying of God’s goodness the other morning at your house, what if Michelle had spoken up and said, “Boy, that Devil almost got me this week!” What kind of testimony would that have been?! Instead of rejoicing with Michelle, we would all have been wondering what she had done to deserve such treatment by the Devil. Instead of Michelle feeling there was “not a ripple on the water”, she would have been condemning herself for what was happening to her. Instead of getting God’s purpose for her sufferings, she would have been asking God why He let that Devil do that to her. Instead of feeling “safe and taken care of”, she would be fearing when that Devil might strike again! Instead of glorifying God as the All-Knowing and Almighty Creator that he is, she would have elevated the Devil into a position of authority, as one who had somehow managed to slip past God. Where is God’s glory in that?! How can her faith be perfected in that?! How could any of us be encouraged by that?
It has been forty years now since Jesus spoke to you, “It tickles the Devil for God’s children to blame their troubles on him.” What a liberating message! Many of us in this body were taught to blame the Devil for our troubles. Or, we were taught that “God is good” means that God won’t cause us to suffer. I love knowing that there is one God, and ALL of my times are in His hands. There is so much peace and comfort in knowing that.
The conclusion of this chapter was so good! You wrote, “The life of every one of God’s people is the sole responsibility of the Owner. He may use it or leave it upon the shelf. He may brand it, break it, twist it, or melt it. But whatever happens to the Master’s instruments is determined by no one but the Master. Faith, when it is matured, rejoices in that. Who better than our God to be in control of our fate? This is the faith which guided Joseph and Job to victory over suffering, and it is the faith that guided our Lord Jesus through his sufferings to eternal glory”.
That kind of mature faith will guide every one of us to victory over our suffering! I am thankful for Michelle’s testimony, as well as the many, many others I’ve heard through the years that glorified God as the Designer of their sufferings. I am thankful for the “All Things” message that was given to you forty years ago. It has saved us! And because of that message, we have been able to rejoice with Michelle and so many other Saints for what God, and God alone, has done!
God is good!
Lee Ann
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Pastor John,