You Don't Know My Daughter!!

Ever been at the end of your rope? There was a time in my life when the end of the rope would have seemed relaxing next to where I found myself hanging. I was dangling from the ever dreaded single thread! Then, the Lord reminded me of a story.

This story begins in the book of Job as a conversation between God and the devil. God asked the devil what he’d been up to and satan said he’d been ‘looking around and checking things out’ (Job 1:7). Now we know that satan is the 'accuser of the brethren' (Revelation 12:10) so it would go to reason that satan must have been ‘looking’ for a brethren to accuse.

I believe there was a tone of sarcasm in satan's voice that day. However, because God sees past our words, straight into our soul and discerns the very intent of our hearts(Hebrews 4:12) and knows the end from the beginning, (Isaiah 46:10), how easy it was to see right through the devil and his manipulative comment. To the untrained ear it might simply have sounded like a pleasant response to a question, ‘Just looking around, checking things out’ (my interpretation). But I believe there was more behind that casual comment. See, satan would have loved to have shown God that there was no one on the earth He could trust. He would love to have shown God there was no one devoted, loyal or dedicated to Him. Perhaps, show Him men that were fair-weathered friends at best.

Although the war was waged in the unseen realm, the brunt of the battle was fought in the natural and God used a man. A man He could trust.

How much could God trust Job? He trusted him so much that He didn’t even tell him how important this battle was.

Did you get that?! The Lord didn’t tell Job that he had been chosen to prove there was a man devoted and loyal to God. A man that could lose everything and not ‘charge God with wrong' (Job 1:22).

Job didn’t know the magnitude of the battle. He didn’t know everything happening to him was repercussion of a war raging in the unseen realm. It was a fight between Almighty God and the enemy.

No, Job didn’t know. Job didn’t know it wasn’t about him. Job didn’t know God trusted him. Job didn’t know he was making a difference. Job didn’t know his story would be told for thousands of years and inspire millions of believers. Job didn’t know God recognized him as ‘blameless and upright, one who fears God and shuns evil’ (Job 1:8). Job didn’t know he was chosen to prove the enemy of our Father God was a defeated foe and a liar. Maybe if he had known it was a test of that magnitude, it would have been easier for him and he might have handled some things differently. However, even in the midst of the storm when his own pain and loss were screaming at him, he had the where-with-all to say….

Job 1:21

Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord!

This war is not only still being fought today in the unseen realm, but we are still feeling the weight of it in our everyday lives; our marriages, our families, our health, and our finances. The enemy still comes to steal, kill, and destroy. (John 10:10) I pray in the powerful Name of Jesus that we never have to endure the pain and loss that Job endured. However, no matter what trial we’re in, no matter how big or how small - we still have to walk through it. We have to decide how we are going to make that journey be it a short one or a long one. What if, like Job, we are the proving ground in this battle, this trial that we are facing right now?

What if, right now, my Father and my accuser are having a conversation similar to the one they had about Job? What if the accuser is doing what he does best and is accusing me to my Father?

What if he's saying things like, “She’s not strong. She won’t make it. This is more than she can handle.”

What if my Father responds with, “You don’t know her like I do.”

Then satan counters with, “Turn up the heat and watch her crumble.”

Just what if Almighty God, Creator of all things, looks satan square in the eyes and says, “You don’t know My daughter.”

What if I’m the proving ground in my battle? What if my Father is watching to see how I will handle this trial and if I will prove to not only the enemy but to all those watching that I am strong in God and in the power of His might (Ephesians 6:10). What if I choose a testimony that declares God is able and I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). What if I trust God enough to believe Him when He says His Grace is sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9), that His mercy is new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23), that He'll never leave nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5), that He will perfect that which concerns me (Psalms 138:8), that He loves me (John 16:27)and that He has, according to Luke 10:19, given me authority and power to stand against all the power of the enemy.

What if, like Job, I am (you are) the one who is chosen because God trusts us more than we trust ourselves. Why, because He sees the potential that He placed in us even when we don’t. Oh to see ourselves the way our Heavenly Father sees us.

Honestly, there are those days when the heat is turned up and I feel like I’m barely hanging on. However, on those heated days, I’m glad there are things we do know. Unlike Job, we DO know that we are not limited to our circumstances. We know everything that manifests itself in the natural realm is a reflection of something that’s going on in the spiritual realm. We know we’re in a battle. We know who our enemy is and we know from where it is our strength comes from!!! (Psalm 28:8) We are not uncircumcised giants but we are daughters of the Most High God and we know who we’re in covenant with. We know that it’s not all about us but about the One who enlisted us (2 Timothy 2:4). We know that our defining moments (how we go through trials) impact history.

Unlike our Father, we can’t see the end from the beginning. We have to trust Him and His vision and believe that when we’ve come through we will have grown to another level in the Lord, proven that we can be trusted and are able to say:

Job 42:5

I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You.

In this lifetime, we may never know the absolute magnitude of the battle we’re fighting or how our part in the battle impacts the overall unseen war. But can we be trusted to do our part? To continue standing when we’ve done all to stand? To fight the good fight of faith and not waiver? Dear sister, no one said it would be easy but may we scream at the top of our lungs in the midst of, in spite of, and over the roar of the battle,

“BLESSED BE THE NAME OF THE LORD!”