• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Before Header

  • twitter
  • facebook
  • pinterest
  • instagram
  • mail

Kate Battistelli

Author | Speaker | Mentor

  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • The God Dare
    • Growing Great Kids
  • Podcasts
  • Blog
    • Faith
    • Recipe Index
  • Shop
  • Speaking
  • Contact
  • Home
  • About
  • Books
    • The God Dare
    • Growing Great Kids
  • Podcasts
  • Blog
    • Faith
    • Recipe Index
  • Shop
  • Speaking
  • Contact

Job and The Deeper Deeps or How to See God

Hello friends! I’m sharing another excerpt from my book The God Dare today. This is part of my chapter on Job because sometimes The God Dare is found in the deepest of tests.  I hope it encourages you! FYI, the book is scheduled to release right around Mother’s Day 🙂

IMG_0534

Job is the one character, the one book, most of us wish was not in the bible. We don’t ever want to consider his lot falling to us. Don’t even go there. It’s a hard story with hard truth and some of it is hard to grasp. But, The God Dare is in the Job story too. 

 Job was one of the biblical ‘good guys’ in fact he was, 

 “..blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.” Job 1:1.  

 A description befitting most of you reading this. You’re good right? And you don’t watch X rated movies or gamble your money away or drink all day so you shun evil too, right? Job had no hidden or besetting sin in his life. The primary thing setting Job apart was his righteousness. Like I said, he was a ‘good guy’. 

For the record, I don’t believe in luck or fate. I do believe in the sovereignty of an almighty God. I don’t believe God is capable of causing evil, ever. It’s not even remotely possible. God is love. He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all. He is holy, pure and powerful and He has plans and purposes, ways and means beyond finding out–certainly beyond this mama’s understanding. His ways are higher than mine and I accept it. I don’t like it but I accept it.

I’ve given up making it my job to try to figure out why He does what He does or why He lets bad things happen to good people. I’ve learned this truth:

Sometimes God allows in His wisdom what He could prevent by His power.

I wrote a post about it here. A post that’s had more views and more shares on Facebook than any other post I’ve written. I think it’s because we can’t wrap our brain around the contradiction of a loving God allowing terrible suffering. It doesn’t make sense to our finite minds.

I’m not a theologian and this is not a treatise on faith or sovereignty. It’s my thoughts and what I’ve observed in my life, my friends lives and my gleanings from studying the word of God for many years.

It’s not my job to try to figure God out.

My job, and this is the scary part at least for me, is to trust and obey no matter what comes. Whatever He allows to come into my life in His wisdom….even if it shatters my concept of Him. Especially if it shatters my small, narrow concept of Him. I’ve learned to simply trust Him.

 So, back to Job, not only was he righteous, he was rich. I mean, filthy stinkin’ rich! Ten children, thousands of animals and a large household.

 “…this man was the greatest of all the people of the east.” 1:3 

He was rich, righteous and famous. Probably popular and good looking too, People Magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive, but who knows? All we know is, Job had it all. He was blessed and highly favored. God knew it and Satan did too. 

Here’s the tricky part. God, in His divine wisdom, allowed Job to be tested. He allowed Job to go through hell and back to establish this fact: Job really was a righteous man. But he needed a deep revelation of God and deeper understanding of his own nature. Through the testing he gained those things and so much more. Through perseverance, Job would learn God was compassionate and merciful, not cruel and capricious.

Here’s how it goes down: Satan comes before God after walking to and fro on the earth and he and God have a conversation. What’s interesting to me is this: Satan didn’t point Job out to God and ask God if he could have permission to test him, no. God pointed Job out to Satan. And God knew exactly what He was doing. He dangled the bait right in front of him and Satan bit. He then gave Satan permission to test Job but not kill him. 

“Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” Job 1:12

 God allowed Job to lose everything. Everything. His children, all ten, were killed in one day from a violent storm. Some of his animals were stolen by raiders and the rest burned up by fire from heaven, all in the same day. Job, who had every right to be angry at God instead said these famous words after shaving his head, falling to the ground and worshipping: 

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.” Job 1:22 

 Satan offered a potent devil’s dare in removing every single thing in Job’s life which had brought joy and peace and fulfillment. He removed it all in a single stroke and fully expected Job to curse God to His face. God, who knew Job and created him, dared Job to come out into the deeper deeps of loss and grief, sorrow and suffering, and choose to trust Him anyway. 

After God spoke to Job from the whirlwind, Job responded with deep humility.

 “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:5-6  

Job had heard of God but now, through deep trials,  God has revealed Himself to Job. And Job sees.

And all Job can do is repent. 

Everything the devil tried to do, destroying his family and possessions, causing Job to become sick, giving him mostly bad advice from his friends, all are turned around and Job is given twice as much as he had before.   

 “Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.He also had seven sons and three daughters….In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations. So Job died, old and full of days.” 42:12-17 

His ways are higher than mine.

I know God doesn’t go around randomly killing children and animals and making us sick. But when trials come, when God allows in His wisdom what He could prevent by His power, we can take The God Dare and persevere because we know His character and because, at the end of the trial, we will see God. Job’s wife gave him bad advice at the beginning of his suffering. She told him to ‘curse God and die.’ Job had a choice, we all do. We can give in or we can go on. I think I know what you’ll do. 

How can I pray for you?

 

Category: Beauty in the Broken, Devotional, Faith, Ponderings, The God DareTag: Job, Satan, Suffering, Testing, The Deeper Deeps, The God Dare, the sovereignty of God, When God Allows what He could Prevent

Previous Post: «Moist and Meaty Meatloaf Meatloaf
Next Post: Gluten-Free Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes Gluten Free Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes»

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. Ten Ways to Show The Father's Heart - Kate Battistelli says:
    April 27, 2015 at 8:00 pm

    […] has brought him through deep difficulties and in the depths, what I like to call the deeper deeps, he’s learned what it means to follow Christ. He’s grasped what it looks like to […]

  2. 10 Things My Husband Taught Me About Loving Like God Does - For Every Mom says:
    July 13, 2015 at 5:25 am

    […] has brought him through deep difficulties and in the depths, what I like to call the deeper deeps, he’s learned what it means to follow Christ. He’s grasped what it looks like to really live […]

Footer

Subscribe to receive updates and goodies from Kate!

When you join me as an INSIDER here at katebattistelli.com, the first goodie I'll send you is a FREE 3-Chapter PREVIEW of my newest book THE GOD DARE, including the introduction, and foreword by my daughter, GRAMMY Award-Winning Recording Artist Francesca Battistelli. More INSIDER surprises to come!

Site Footer

New post up at @momtomompodcast!. So much about Go New post up at @momtomompodcast!. So much about God and His Word is still a mystery, even to the greatest theological minds down through the ages. Faith–simple, childlike #faith is what holds the whole thing up. But, do we just stop there?
.
In 2 Timothy 2:15, we’re charged to rightly handle the Word of Truth and to study to show ourselves approved unto God. And in 1 Peter 3, we’re told to always be ready to give an account of the hope that we have in Christ.
.
Should part of that readiness be Biblical literacy–not just being able to quote Scripture, but being able to use those Scriptures to better know God–His character and attributes–and to better know the doctrines of our faith and how those are to be lived out in our everyday lives? .

Today, we’re joined by @phyliciamasonheimer who is going to help answer that question and hopefully give us some tips for living in the tension of both a simple faith and practical theology.

#christianmom #momtomompodcast #stopcallingmebeautiful #phyliciamasonheimer
#biblicalliteracy #theology #theologymatters #wordoftruth
See that smile on my face? That smile is because G See that smile on my face? That smile is because God sent me a sweet holy reminder this week in the form of my first royalty check for The God Dare.
.
In this day and age it’s a rare thing for most authors to pay back their advance to their publisher, especially within the first 6 months of a books release. So I’m standing here in awe of His goodness and the faithfulness of all of you who’ve read and shared my book. I’m honored and deeply humbled as He used this moment to remind me how good He’s been to me in this writing journey.
.
The God Dare has been a labor of love that took 8 years to go from simple blog post to published book and I stand here amazed today that it’s already in its second printing and, I earned my first royalty check.
.
My first book came out in 2012 and I’ve yet to pay back that advance. It can take time and for most of us it does, especially in the Christian book world. But if you’re a writer who’s got a book coming out soon or you’re thinking of writing some day, follow that dream. Dreams do come true...I promise 💖.
.
Keep writing, keep trusting, keep praying, keep believing. He has a plan and it’s good. Bless you and thank you all so very much for all you love & support 😘. #hopewriters #calledcreatives #authorsofig #writersofinstagram #christianwriters #publishedauthor #hopewriter #thegoddare #christianpublishing #amwriting @hopewriters @calledcreatives
If you’re a mom, you’re human and you’re goi If you’re a mom, you’re human and you’re going to make mistakes. ⠀
⠀
Your kids WILL frustrate you. You’ll get angry, crabby and irritated. It goes with the territory so stop beating yourself up over it. We’ve all done it, we’ll do it again. Living in a fallen world with fallen natures takes everything in us to conquer the sin deep within. But, your children will survive your crabby days, I promise! And, there's hope for change.⠀
⠀
I’m further along in my parenting journey, my daughter is grown with children of her own so I’ll share my perspective. I struggled with anger, I still do to be honest. Mostly because I have a way in my head I think everything should be. When it doesn’t look the way I want it to, I snap. I answer harshly. I’m impatient. I want to control life and I want life a certain way—my way—which is rarely THE way.⠀
⠀
I’m selfish, thinking I have rights but the truth is, when we follow Christ we give up our right to ourselves. We tell the Lord with all sincerity, “I surrender all” until we don’t and the inner ugly rears its head. I must surrender my ways, my wants, my ego, my future, my time, my control, my everything to the only One who can change me from the inside out. ⠀
⠀
The way you love is the way you’ll live. If you sincerely love the Lord with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, then His love will flow out of you naturally. Not perfectly but naturally. Because, mama, you’ll never be perfect.... .
To read the rest, head to @joyfullifemagazine and look for the same picture as this post. 
#hopewriter #calledcreatives #writersofinstagram #writersofinsta #authorsofinstagram #honestlymothering #mothering #joyfullife
I remember my mom praying "now I lay me down to sl I remember my mom praying "now I lay me down to sleep" each night when I was little, along with some other prayers that weren't very Biblical but brought comfort to a scared little girl. Our family didn't place much emphasis on God or prayer and I didn't come to know the Lord until after I turned 29. When I had my daughter a year later, I knew prayer would be an integral part of our lives. I'm convinced time on our knees is the best investment we can make in our children's lives.⁠⠀
⁠⠀
Before your children were a glimmer in your eye, God knew them and set a plan for his or her life firmly in place. God ordered their steps and set the course of their lives with every twist and turn already mapped out. He dreamed a big dream and gave you the task, with His help, of finding out what that big dream is. He wants to guide you every step of the way and help you dig down deep and mine every ounce of greatness in your child. Because the dreams and desires we hold for our children and ourselves are important to God—more important than we can imagine. ⁠⠀
⁠⠀
I was never afraid to believe God had a huge plan for my daughter. I was just naive enough to take God at His word and believe in the power of destiny. I've seen my belief bear tremendous fruit over the years. I'm pleading with you here: Don't be afraid to dream BIG for your child....
.
To read the rest of the post, please head on over to @joyfullifemagazine .
Blessings!!. #hopewriter #authorsofig #mothering #joyfullife #motherwell #dreambigger #mothersofinstagram ⁠⠀
I’m absolutely loving this beautiful book from t I’m absolutely loving this beautiful book from the amazing @thekatieorr! It’s the perfect book to dive into right now with all the upheaval going on in the world and the temptation to sink into sadness & depression.
.
There truly is a path to happiness, real, enduring happiness. In fact, Katie shares 6 ways to nurture the happy soul already within us.
.
Let her words help you find the happy, fulfilled life you’ve always dreamed about!.
.
The happy soul is a holy soul.
The holy soul is a happy soul.
These are unprecedented times. So many parents are These are unprecedented times. So many parents are being thrown into schooling-from-home with little to no direction. We’ve shared before in episode 30 some general ideas and suggestions for homeschooling, so we’re not going to unpack all of that today. But we would like to dive deeper into one part of homeschooling that we believe is the foundation for what all the rest of our child’s education and really their very lives is built upon.
.
Today, we’re talking about Morning Time. Some folks prefer to call it Morning Basket, Morning Meeting, others who maybe choose to slot it at other times in the day instead of the morning have been known to call it Symposium or Power Hour. No matter what you call it, if you’ve been homeschooling for any length of time, you definitely know that it’s a current buzzword in homeschooling circles. It seems that everyone has caught the fever.
.
Check out our site to find all of our Morning Basket recommendations!.
.
#morningtime #morningbasket #morningmeeting #symposium #powerhour #homeschoolingideas #homeschoolingmom #homeschoolingfamily #schoolathome #homeschoollife #homeschoolmom
Join me on Instagram!

Copyright © 2021 Kate Battistelli · All Rights Reserved · Powered by Mai Theme