A glimpse behind the scenes 

 
Job 2:1-13

This amazing drama, with scenes both in heaven and on earth, helps us make sense of some of life’s most troubling questions.

On earth, we see the prosperous home of a godly man named Job. As the story unfolds, various disasters turn his life into pure misery. Behind the scenes, we glimpse God’s throne room and a confrontation over Job’s life between the two principal figures in history. The first is God the Creator, who governs the world with his Word and is fully committed to us. The second is Satan, a creature, who has rebelled against God and now appears as Job’s accuser and tormentor. In his misery, Job (representing humanity) has a choice: to keep living in relationship with God, loving him no matter what the circumstances, or to turn from him in search of an easier path. As Satan attempts to lead Job away from God, the pressure grows intense. The battle is real.
The primary lesson here is that in gut-wrenching conflict our choice to love God simply for who he is, is very significant. We are allowed to see behind the scenes of Job’s suffering in chapters one and two, a privilege Job himself cannot see. But despite his lack of understanding and Satan’s cruelest efforts, Job remains faithful, and God brings good out of evil.

What was the key to Job’s ongoing faithfulness in difficult circumstances? Ask God to strengthen you in this area.

Dig deeper: Zech. 3:1-7; Romans 8:28-39; Rev. 12:7-12.

Leadership Shift Pt. 2 
by Loren Cunningham

However, the greatest Chilean resource is the Church. While no one was watching, God has been quietly investing in Latin America, particularly in Chile. Some 30.4% of Chileans are evangelical. Their church is growing at three times the rate of the population. As a result, their economy has also been blessed. A Fortune article in October of 1991 linked the evangelical revival in Latin America to new growth in their economy. In Chile, unemployment is below 5% and they have one of the lowest inflation rates in the world.

I went to Chile to challenge them to go out as missionaries. This is the paradigm shift of the 90s: countries which previously only received missionaries are now sending out missionaries. Their numbers will soon dwarf those from North America and Europe.

Four years ago, there were no Chilean evangelical missionaries working overseas. Now there are 39 from YWAM working in Africa, India and the Middle East, as well as six out with Operation Mobilisation, two with the Baptists, and one with the Anglicans. Yet this is only a trickle of the flood we are praying for. I told hundreds of Chilean pastors of the early Moravians who "tithed" their people, sending one missionary for every ten church members. That would mean 400,000 Chilean missionaries! Their present goal is to send out 1,000 missionaries in the next seven years.

What about money? Even though Chileans are relatively better off than much of the Third World, they still think of themselves as poor. Yet they have more wealth now than either the U.S. or Britain did in the 19th century when the first waves of Protestant missionaries went out. Our prosperity is the result of our obedience to the Great Commission. If we want to see financial blessings in the Third World, we have to challenge them to obey God and send out missionaries.

(to be continued)
[Reprinted with permission from Ministries Today July/August 1993. Copyright Strang Communications Co., USA. All rights reserved. www.ministriestoday.com]