“Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.’” Job 2:3

Dear Almighty God, Your word in Job both reveals and conceals for me. First of all, it reveals that there is a spirit world around us in which you allow the angels and demons to roam where we humans never get to tread. Secondly, it reveals to me that if I were to try to understand the reason for everything that happens to me (good and bad) and do not factor in that it might be a struggle that you and Satan are having on the playing field of my life, then I could be wasting precious time and energy trying to make sense of it all. Finally, it conceals from me the logic and the meaningful good that can come from suffering when you say to the devil ‘You incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.’ Like Job, I’m left to trust totally in your person and promises without any explanation about the details. What reasonless faith you demand! I do find myself believing in you more and more without explanations. As the book of Job unfolds you reveal how you carried Job through to the end. I see how he clung to your Son in Job 19. I will cling to Jesus along with him. I trust you will see me through to the gateway to eternal life, even though you hide the reasons for the troubles along life’s journey. Until I get to that glorious end, give me wisdom and peace during my travels and accept my childish request that you not allow Satan to test me as much as he did Job or your Son, Jesus. Amen.

God is almighty, good and gracious. That’s all you need to know when you slide into a ditch along life’s journey.