The Cause of Suffering in The Life of Job

While reading some passages about Job's life during the last couple weeks, some interesting thoughts about the invisible realm and suffering or sickness entered my mind.

The speeches of Job, as they are recorded in the Bible, reveal that he is oftentimes tempted to think God was the one who brought the calamity and pain into his life. But through the introduction of the book, the reader is made to understand that it is actually the devil and his companions who work the destruction, death, and sickness in Job's life. It reminds us of the words of Jesus from the gospel of John, chapter 10, verse 10:

"The thief (devil) does not come except to steal, kill, and destroy. I have come that you may have life, and have it in abundance."

Some people still think today that God is behind a tragedy or sickness in their life. But if we think like that, we ignore the revelations from the book of Job, we ignore the reality of the invisible realm, and the revelation of the Father's attitude towards sickness which was made clearly visible through the life of Jesus.

"How God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with strength, ability and power; how he went about doing good and healing all who were harassed and oppressed by the devil, for God was with him."
Acts 10;38

The devil demanded permission from God to test the righteousness of Job and reveal that it is fake and just based on the blessings the Lord gave him. But what the enemy of mankind did not know is that the righteousness of Job was not based on the good works of a man and their resulting benefits.

I believe the righteousness in Job's life was Jesus himself. Jesus is the reason why Job could hold on to his trust in God during the most adverse circumstances. Jesus was the hope for him, the anchor of his soul, that kept him from cursing God when the people closest to him recommended him to do so.

I personally do not believe the Lord gives the devil permission today to bring evil into the lives of people, in a way similar to Job. We can see how the enemy tries to accuse the Lord falsely of causing pain and sickness in the life of the people He loves, in Job 2:6-7:

"However, put forth Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh; he will curse You to Your face." So the Lord said to Satan, "Behold, he is in your power, only spare his life."

The Lord's answer clarifies that it is the enemy who brings the destruction into people's lives, by his limited power. A loving father could never have a part in causing sickness or bringing destruction to one of his children.

The false accusation of the enemy about Job's righteousness has been proven false back then and does not need to be retested. In fact, a more severe testing of that accusation happened once and for all when Jesus suffered for us on the cross. The way Jesus endured this suffering and turned it into an endless victory for all who believe and trust in him, removed the foundation of any accusation of this kind once and for all.

If people suffer sickness nowadays, it is not the result of God giving the enemy permission for it, but it is mostly the result of people giving this permission to the enemy. And, of course, we know that we have an enemy who does not play fair. He will go after people without any legal permission, in his sad attempt to cause pain to the heart of God by hurting individual members of his most loved creation.

Being aware of the reality of the invisible realm or the spirit realm helps us to end sickness in the people's lives. What we perceive in the spirit world with the help of the Holy Spirit is what we have authority over. This is one of the reasons why it makes sense to pray for the eyes of our heart to be enlightened and filled with the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus, like the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 1:17-19a.

"the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened (flooded with light), so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe."

If we see, smell, or perceive a demon or an evil spirit while praying for someone, we can just use our spiritual body to brush it off of the person we are praying for and command it to leave in the name of Jesus. When you research this you would find thousands of testimonies about how this changed the life of individuals permanently. Some of those testimonies can be found in the gospels and the Book of Acts.

Every now and then I meet somebody who does not believe in an invisible world or a spiritual realm. He only believes in what he sees. If I would ask him if he believes in the existence of atoms and molecules, although he does not see them, it might start an interesting conversation. Most people in Africa and other parts of the world would laugh at you if you say this to them, because they have experienced the reality of the spiritual realm, mostly of the evil kind. Some of them may have lost friends or relatives as a result.

When I meet somebody with such a world perspective I can understand where they are coming from, to a certain degree. My own public education in Germany did not teach me anything about the spiritual world either. But after a countless number of very real experiences with the spiritual world or the kingdom of God, it would be foolish to deny its reality.

Everyone is going to experience how real the spiritual realm is at the end of their life, whether they believe in it or not. I take joy in helping people experience this reality sooner, without having to taste death. It also helps us to be a lot more peaceful and joyful once we get to the end of our natural life.