Then said his wife to him, Do you still retain your integrity? curse God, and die. But he said to her, You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
– Job 2:9-10
Thought on Today’s Verse:
Job’s wife—a familiar character in Job’s story. When Job was in trial, his wife asked him to forsake God. What she did had played the role of Satan, because Satan wanted Job to betray God. Due to his faith in God, Job severely reprimanded his wife and overcame the temptation of Satan.
Just as in our daily life, we are usually faced with the temptations of wealth, status, reputation, porn and so on. So what should we do to overcome the temptation of Satan and break free from sin?
1. When Encountering Satan’s Temptation, We Should See Clearly the Battle in the Spiritual Realm. Only by Accepting It From God Can We Defeat the Temptation of Satan.
When Satan’s temptation comes upon us, externally it appears that the people, matters, and things come upon us, but behind the scenes, everything that happens is a wager made by Satan before God. Only when we see clearly this point will we stand on the side of God and defeat Satan. I want to read a passage to everyone, “In every step of work that God does within people, externally it appears to be interactions between people, as if born of human arrangements, or from human interference. But behind the scenes, every step of work, and everything that happens, is a wager made by Satan before God, and requires people to stand firm in their testimony to God. Take when Job was tried, for example: Behind the scenes, Satan was making a bet with God, and what happened to Job was the deeds of men, and the interference of men. Behind every step that God does in you is Satan’s wager with God—behind it all is a battle. … Thus, in everything there is a battle, and when there is a battle within you, thanks to your actual cooperation and actual suffering God works within you. Ultimately, inside you are able to put the matter aside….”
2. Facing Satan’s Temptations, Only by Praying to God, Seeking and Grasping His Will Can We Penetrate Satan’s Plots.）
The Lord Jesus said, “Whatever you shall ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive” (Mat 21:22). God is almighty. When we call out to Him, He will reveal His intentions to us so that we can discover accurate paths of implementation in all things that we face.
3. Facing Satan’s Temptations, We Must Hold On to God’s Word, Firmly Obey the Truth and Be Loyal to God. Thus We Can Leave Satan Utterly Humiliated and Defeated.
For example, when we are determined to serve the Lord for a lifetime, there’s someone who introduces us a very good job, then Satan’s temptation has come upon us. At this time, we always desire to get this job to enjoy more. But the Lord said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God” (Mat 4:4). When we act according to God’s words, God’s words are our weapons to fight back against Satan’s deceitful schemes. If we want to overcome Satan’s temptation, we need to practice God’s words in everything, and so there are no longer any opportunities for Satan to exploit.
We can practice according to these three ways, which are of great help to our overcoming Satan’s temptation and the growth of our life.