Job was a man in right standing with God - Job 1:8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”
By answering God's question, satan managed to set the stage for Job to undergo painful trials, loss and suffering, to try and prove he did not deserve God's description of him. Job was all along oblivious to this intercourse between God and Satan. His wife, family and friends, and all on-lookers, altogether were not privy to the cause of his ordeal.
Job could not explain why he was going through what he was going through. All of his children had died on the same day. He had lost servants and his livelihood. He praised God in spite of his losses, but then his situation got even worse. This is because God spoke again about Job to Satan:
Job 2:3-8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”
Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
“All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.
Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes.
His friends accorded varied erroneous meanings to his suffering. Society frowned on him. It was same with Jesus, as he was crucified, people mocked him, some were certain he was being punished by God. But behind the scenes, the will of God was in motion.
God's ways are higher than the ways of men. What man may consider as not of God, could be something allowed by God. God's foolishness is wiser than man's wisdom. We must endeavour to tap into God's mind by seeking His will and trusting Him. For there are many things that happen behind the scenes that we are not privy to, so ought to judge less.
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