WHO IS IN CONTROL: PART 2

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WHO IS IN CONTROL: PART 2
Political corruption and violent crime are two calamities that many fear in the United States where I live. When Jesus was unjustly arrested in the middle of the night and was legally murdered the next day, who was in control?
This man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.
(Acts 2:23)
Reflecting on the apparently out-of-control events of Jesus’s arrest and crucifixion, Peter knew who had been in control. The indifferent, corrupt Roman authorities? The jealous, vengeful religious leaders? The ignorant execution squad? No. God and his predetermined plan.
Human words—positive or negative confession—also do not magically control good and bad. Jeremiah wrote,
Who is there who speaks, and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?
(Lamentations 3:37–38)
Solomon said it this way in Ecclesiastes 7:14:
In the day of prosperity be happy, but in the day of adversity consider—God has made the one as well as the other.
Neither Satan nor positive or negative confessions control calamity. God does. That is exactly what we find in Job. Until God gave his permission, Satan could touch neither Job nor his possessions. In fact, although we know Satan had a personal hand in Job’s calamities, Job was never encouraged to handle his situation by binding Satan, casting off curses, speaking positive confessions, or by employing any of the other occult-like techniques so popular in some parts of the church today. The book of Job ends with Job back on track. What was the secret? He focused on God; Satan and demons are not even mentioned.
A Day of Destruction
As we take up the narrative of Job 1 again, we find that in a day of frenzied destruction Satan engineered four separate disasters designed to ruin Job (1:13–19). All Job’s oxen and donkeys were stolen, and his servants slaughtered. All his sheep were destroyed by lightning and the shepherds incinerated. All his camels were kidnapped and their guardians massacred. But by far the most devastating calamity on that day of holocausts was the death of Job’s children, crushed by a cascade of bricks as a tornado leveled the eldest son’s house.
Job’s response to his ruin was a fear-of-the-Lord response:
Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.
(1:20)
Tearing the robe, shaving the head, and falling to the ground were common expressions of grief in Job’s culture. Worshiping was not. But Job was an uncommon man.
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.
(1:21–22)
Job acknowledged that all he had received in life had been God’s gift—none of it was deserved. And what God gave, God had the right to take away. The end of verse 22 literally reads, “Job did not ascribe folly to God.” In other words, Job did not accuse God of making a mistake when he took the life of his children and his employees and left Job in financial ruin.
If At First You Don’t Succeed …
Job had not folded under pressure as Satan had predicted. However, the Accuser was quick to find an explanation: God had not touched that which was most dear to Job, his own precious skin. “Strike his health, God,” squealed Satan, “and Job will turn on you faster than a striking cobra.”
Put forth Your hand now and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face.
(2:5)
Notice again Satan’s acknowledgment that God was in control. He begged God, “Put forth Your hand …” Satan may do the actual deed, but he knows full well who is in charge.
So the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life.”
(2:6)
Having sought and obtained permission (but again with a critical limitation), Satan launched his second attack, striking Job with boils. Job was covered from head to foot with agonizing, swollen, burning, oozing sores. And the treatment was no party either:
And he took a potsherd to scrape himself while he was sitting among the ashes.
(2:8)
The “ashes” referred to the place where the household refuse was burned. Job’s hospital bed was a garbage heap.
His wife encouraged him to give up the battle and die, but Job refused to adopt an attitude of bitter resentment:
“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
(2:10)
Who Is In Control of Calamity?
The opening two chapters of Job answer the question “Who is in control of calamity?” with unmistakable clarity. Job, Satan, and God all confirmed that God is in control. In short, God controlled the origin, timing, nature, and extent of Job’s calamities.
When life feels out of control like an airplane in a flat spin, it’s comforting to know that God’s hand is on the stick and that his feet are on the rudder pedals. To handle your calamity in a trusting, God-honoring way, you must be convinced that God is in control and that he knows how to land the plane.
But that leads to a second question. If God is in control, why did God allow Satan to pillage Job’s possessions, pulverize his family, and punch Job’s health in the nose? If God is in control, why does he allow bad things to happen at all? To answer that question, we need to consider the next section of Job.
WHY DID THIS HAPPEN? COMING SOON.
I HOPE YOU FIND THIS QUICK STUDY TO BE INTERESTING.
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PASTOR ANDRA HIGGINBOTHAM




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