The LORD said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Job 1:6-12
Satan apparently has access to God and
must report to him like some disgruntled manager. He has no power and must
concede power on a regular basis to his boss.
In the story of Job, the Lord asked
Satan if he’d heard of Job and his reputation. God seemed proud of him.
Satan said sure, Job's life was great,
but only because God protected him. So God lifted the protection to show Satan
that Job would remain blameless and upright with or without the hedge of
protection and God's blessings.
Does this happen to us? Does Satan ask to torment us and God allows
it?
Maybe. Maybe not.
Job was a test case to show that people
will praise God even if they suffer. God
tried to prove a point to Satan early on in humanity's history. There’s no
indication that God plays this game with all of us.
Did Satan understand the lesson? Probably…or probably not. If Satan didn’t understand the answer here,
he’s not going to understand the answer 100 billion people later.
Let’s not forget that God also protected
and blessed Job. God watched over Job
throughout the most difficult time of his life. He even showered Job with more
blessing when it was all over.
The point of Job’s story is that we
suffer for some reason only God knows and we may or may not understand that
reason in our lifetime.
But if God decided to use us as an
example of righteousness to Satan, we should be honored instead of angry and
set out to prove Satan wrong and God right.