In The Valley of Affliction

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Job was a man who had been truly blessed of God because he walked with God in a way that was considered to be holy.  God Himself called Job blameless, upright, God-fearing, and repentant of evil found in his life.  And then the greatest storm of his life came crashing upon him.  In a very short amount of time all of Job's servants were killed, his animals were slaughtered, his children died together in a cyclone that collapsed the house in which they were celebrating a birthday,,and if that wasn't enough, Job himself was covered with boils from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.  He had clearly been standing under the "anvil tree," and it had dumped all of its "fruit" on this holy man of God.

What followed was an attack on his emotions and spirit.  His wife told him to "curse God and die" (what a woman), and three of his friends told him over and over that his afflictions had come upon him because he had been a prideful, sinful man!  In an instant Job's life on the mountaintop of blessedness took a very sudden turn.  Now he found himself in the valley of affliction, with no end in sight.  The holy man, in his suffering, lost sight of the God he loved and served.  He argued, "tit for tat." with his friends, asserting that he was a blameless man, not being punished for some undisclosed sin.  But that became his sin.  Job never defended God to his three friends.  Instead, he only defended himself.   In doing that, Job began to speak too many words and some of them spewed forth lies about God, lies he was certainly hearing whispered into his ears from Satan's warriors.

After many days of suffering, another man by the name of Elihu spoke up.  From him came words that defended God, words that were setting Job up for his confrontation with God.  Elihu gave great counsel to Job, counsel that is good for us to hear as well.  He challenged Job to:

1. Stop allowing his affliction to cause him to scoff (speak unintelligibly--like a description of how a foreigner would talk)
2. Turn from seeking to die (or in our case, to run away from our affliction)
3. Cease turning to evil (de)vices to bring comfort in his pain
4. Praise and worship God's characteristics and creation
5. Listen for God's voice, for it would be his shelter from the storm
6. Meditate on the GOD of all the wonders on earth
7. Exalt God!
8. Fear God, giving Him his full reverence and respect

In the trials, afflictions, and suffering that will surely come in our lives, this is truth we must face..  God uses our afflictions and trials for good, not to harm us.  While it may not seem good to us, and we might even call it harmful, we would be wise to come to grips with the fact that God's definitions of "good" and "harm" are very different than ours.  After all, His thoughts, His ways, His plans and purposes are exceedingly higher than ours.  And He is God, and we are not!

 If you are going through a very dark valley of affliction, do not believe the lies of the enemy who would discourage you.  He desires for you to come to hate God for what you are experiencing.  Remember, God will is for you to be made into His Son's likeness.  He wants to perfect you.  He wants to bring you to the end of yourself.  In the end, He wants to humble you so that you can be exalted with Him in Heaven.   Is this a difficult medicine to swallow?  Absolutely!  But once you do, it will surely bring spiritual healing to your heart!