Round One

Job 2:1–9

When bad things happen, they often happen to the wrong person. And when that occurs, we’re always left with that haunting question, “Why?” Somewhere in all of this, there is room for the story of Job. For, as we have learned, a better man never lived in his day. He was not only a good man, he was a godly man. He was not only a faithful husband, he was a loving and devoted father. He was a good employer. With plenty of land, an abundance of food, and sufficient livestock and camels to fund Job’s dreams, it looked as though his entire future would be a downhill slide.

I imagine that in the struggle of that first fitful night, trying to sleep after burying all ten children with his own hands, laying alongside his grieving wife who had also endured the loss, much of what had happened was still a blur. And there was more to come, much more. He couldn’t have imagined it any more than those in the Pentagon who were already busily engaged in dealing with the details of the Northeastern Atlantic shoreline and the New York Harbor, where the terrorists had struck. Our military personnel had no idea they were next. A third plane on another evil mission would soon plunge into the very side of the building in Washington where some were already working on the atrocity that had just happened in New York.

I have spoken to some of those officers who were in the building at that time. One admitted to his own embarrassment, “It never dawned on most of us that the Pentagon was next.” We may never know for sure if the third plane was seeking to locate the White House and, because of the foliage of mid-September, couldn’t do so. The pilot, in his maddening plan to crash the plane, spotted this five-sided building and tore a hole 200 feet wide due to a double explosion—first from the plane itself crashing into the building and then the igniting of the fuel that sent fire down the wide hallway.

As with Job, it just wasn’t fair! At least it wasn’t fair from our perspective. The man had modeled genuine integrity. He had blest his Father; in fact, he had worshiped Him, and Satan couldn’t stand it.

The Adversary lost round one.

Taken from Great Days with the Great Lives by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2005 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of Thomas Nelson. www.thomasnelson.com

Posted in Bible Characters and tagged .

Accuracy, clarity, and practicality all describe the Bible-teaching ministry of Charles R. Swindoll. Chuck is the chairman of the board at Insight for Living and the chancellor of Dallas Theological Seminary. Chuck also serves as the senior pastor of Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas, where he is able to do what he loves most—teach the Bible to willing hearts. His focus on practical Bible application has been heard on the Insight for Living radio broadcast since 1979.

ఖచ్చితత్వం, స్పష్టత మరియు ఆచరణాత్మకత అన్నీ చార్లెస్ ఆర్. స్విన్డాల్ యొక్క బైబిల్-బోధనా పరిచర్యను వివరిస్తాయి. చక్ ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ కు బోర్డు ఛైర్మన్ మరియు డల్లాస్ థియోలాజికల్ సెమినరీకి ఛాన్సలర్. చక్ టెక్సాస్‌లోని ఫ్రిస్కోలోని స్టోన్‌బ్రయర్ కమ్యూనిటీ చర్చ్ యొక్క సీనియర్ పాస్టర్‌గా కూడా పనిచేస్తున్నారు, అక్కడ ఆయన చాలా ఇష్టపడేదాన్ని చేయగలుగుతున్నాడు-ఇష్టపడే హృదయాలకు బైబిల్ నేర్పిస్తున్నారు. ఆచరణాత్మక బైబిల్ అనువర్తనంపై ఆయన దృష్టి 1979 నుండి ఇన్సైట్ ఫర్ లివింగ్ రేడియో ప్రసారంలో వినబడుచున్నది.