Daily Devotional for May 4, 2012

Job1:6-12
One day, when the angels had gathered around the Lord, and Satan was there with them, the Lord asked, “Satan, where have you been?” Satan replied, “I have been going all over the earth.” Then the Lord asked, “What do you think of my servant Job? No one on earth is like him—he is a truly good person, who respects me and refuses to do evil.”

“Why shouldn’t he respect you?” Satan remarked. “You are like a wall protecting not only him, but his entire family and all his property. You make him successful in whatever he does, and his flocks and herds are everywhere. Try taking away everything he owns, and he will curse you to your face.”

The Lord replied, “All right, Satan, do what you want with anything that belongs to him, but don’t harm Job.” Then Satan left.

Scripture taken from the Contemporary English Version © 1991,1992, 1995 by American Bible Society, Used by Permission.

This has been a challenging week. But as many have pointed out, God is in control. All I have to do is rest in Him. And I really am trying to do that… hopefully pretty well! I know that God has a wall of protection around me, my grandmother, and my family. He has shown me this over and again. He can take away lots of material things. He can allow challenges and temporary setbacks. But ultimately, I believe He has said to Satan, “Do what you want with anything that belongs to her, but do not harm HER or her family!”

I believe that Satan knows who he can and cannot touch. And when God tells the devil to leave someone alone, I believe there is a covenant in place between them for this to happen. So I want to be extra certain that I operate within the wall of protection that God offers. I want to respect God and refuse to do evil. I want to serve Him – and serve well!

I’m not being arrogant when I say that I believe the devil can’t touch me! If you trust God, serve Him and respect Him - and seek His will - I think you can say the very same thing. I find this incredibly comforting… and I am at peace with so many decisions and outcomes that I have experienced – especially in the last few days. God has my back! Does He have yours?

©2012 Debbie Robus