Spare His Life

Then Satan answered the LORD and said, “Skin for skin! All that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out your hand and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse you to your face.” And the LORD said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand; only spare his life.”
Job 2:4-6
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Spare His Life
External losses are hard to deal with.  Loss of a job, finances, and property all cause us great consternation.  Yet loss to one’s health is devastating.  What was once possible is no longer, the future life dreamt of is no more.  This is what the devil hopes for.  He hopes that when faced with sickness and disease, crippling pain and broken bodies, we would fall into despair.  Forsaking everything and curse God.  This was his hope with Job and it is his hope with us when our bodies fail us.  Yet God does not seem to be worried for Job.  What does He know that we don’t (besides everything)?  God knows the source if Job’s faith.  It does not lie in Job’s prosperity or health. It does not gain strength through Job’s own will.  No! Job’s faith rest in God and His Word of promise. God understands that when we know the source of our faith we can face anything the devil can muster.  So how do we protect ourselves from the slings and arrows of the adversary? We go to where God says He will be, we go in faith, to His Word and Sacraments, where God Himself builds us up in faith to face devil, the world, and our own sinful flesh.  In Christ we rest secured.      
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