This month as we look at hope, we have discovered that our hope comes from God alone. Today, we see how that hope brings us confidence and security. Job 11:18 says, “Then you would trust, because there is hope; And you would look around and rest securely.” (NASB). This chapter in Job is Zophar’s response to Job as he laments the circumstances in which he finds himself. For background on Job, he was a righteous man, very wealthy, with a large family. Satan complains to God that the only reason Job is following God is because of all the good things God has given him. Satan then tells God that if all of that were taken away, Job would curse God, and Satan asks permission from the Lord to prove his claims. God agrees, and says that Satan can throw anything at Job, but the one thing he can’t do is kill him. In the process, Job loses his sons and daughters when a big storm demolishes the house they were in, his livestock killed, all his wealth was gone, and he lost his health when he was covered in boils. Job was being attacked from every direction by Satan.
Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar are “friends” of Job, who decided to come and cheer Job up, with their words of “wisdom”. However, their words were not of encouragement but of condemnation, telling Job that what has happened was because of something he did, or said, or an attitude, or sin, and that God was punishing him. Zophar condemned Job by telling him that there must be some wickedness in his life to bring such calamity. He says that if Job would turn his heart to God, and not let wickedness dwell in his household, then he could approach God without “moral defect” (Job 11:15 NASB), and life would be better, and then he says in verse 18, “then you would trust because there is hope…” Although Job had been righteous in God’s eyes, he still had to endure an attack of the enemy. Zophar says if Job would do these things, he would find hope by trusting in God.
This hope is not a wish that things will be better, it is a confidence that God will do as He promised, and as such then security is also found. By trusting in God and relying on His Word, our hope (confidence) comes in knowing that we can believe what God says, we can take His promises “to the bank” and make a faith deposit. There is security in knowing that we can trust God to work in our behalf and for our good.
Placing our faith and trust in God gives us an assurance that we will not be left alone, that God is with us through every situation. That hope strengthens our faith and we grow in our walk with the Lord, getting stronger each step we take in walking this pathway of faith.
The result of gaining hope in Christ is shown in the result of Job’s situation. Once Satan found out that Job would not renounce God, but instead, kept his faith in God, then God showered Job with blessings for his faithfulness and gave him double what he had before.
Satan also saw how God dealt with Job’s friends. God was angry because they didn’t speak of God in truth. They said that God was punishing Job, and they portrayed the Lord as a vindictive God. Satan saw that those who speak evil of God will themselves be punished. When we are being assaulted by those, unbeliever and Believer alike, with the idea that we have done something to deserve what we are going through, God will defend us. Those who don’t speak the true character of God will themselves be faced with God’s wrath, just as Job’s friends did, and repentance is required. We can have that hope that God will fight for us. We can rest in security and confidence, knowing God is Who He says He is, and will do as He has promised.
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