Life Principle 11
God assumes full responsibility for our needs when we obey Him. (Job 42:7-17)
God assumes full responsibility for our needs when we obey Him. (Job 42:7-17)
Life’s Questions
It’s in times of great loss or trial that you may be tempted to question whether God really cares about you. After all, certain things have gone terribly wrong and you find that there are needs in your life that continue to go unmet. You believe that He is God—fully able to provide for you—so the questions arise, Why isn’t God delivering me from all of this? Why has He allowed these bad things to happen to me? Haven’t I been faithful? Does He really want to help me?
Yes, He does. In fact, God takes great joy in meeting your needs and supplying the desires of your heart. Yet there is a condition. Life Principle 11 explains, God assumes full responsibility for our needs when we obey Him. Are you submitting yourself fully to God? Are you trusting Him despite your circumstances?
What the Bible Says
Read Job 1:1–3 and Job 1:6-12. What was Satan implying about why Job served God (Job 1:10-11)?
Why do you think God allowed Satan to test Job (Job 1:8; Job 1:12)?
Read Job 1:13–22. What do you think about Job’s response to his adversity (Job 1:20-21)?
Read Job 2:1–10. Why do you think Job was able to remain so strong in the midst of such terrible pain and loss (Job 1:10)?
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21)
What would you have done if you had been in Job’s shoes? Do you think your faith would have withstood all of those trials?
Read Job 42:1–17. According to verse 5, what need did God fill for Job that was not fulfilled by all the things that he’d lost?
*** Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. (Job 13:15)
Why did Job need to lose so much before he could come to this profound understanding of God?
Why do you think God gave twice as much as Job had before (Job 42:10-12)?
What It Means
Job obeyed God, but bad things still happened to him—overnight he found himself in deep pain and terrible need. Why? Was it merely to prove something to Satan, or was there a deeper reason? God was meeting more important needs in Job than we may initially realize. Remember Life Principle 1: Our intimacy with God is His highest priority for our lives, and it determines the impact of our lives. God took full responsibility for bringing Job into the deepest intimacy possible with Himself. And because of Job’s obedience, people throughout the ages have been encouraged by his faithful example.
*** He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. (Job 23:10–11)
Life Examples
Read Luke 11:9–13. What is God’s promise to you (Luke 11:9-10)? What can you expect from God (Luke 11:11-12)?
Why can you count on God to give His very best for you (Luke 11:13)?
Living the Principle
There are two questions that you must settle in your heart: First, can God help you? Do you believe that God is completely able to intervene in your situation? Do you have confidence in the One who laid the foundations of the earth (see Gen. 1), who delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea (see Ex. 14:13–31), and who defeated death to save you from your sins and provide a home for you in heaven (see 1 Cor. 15)?
The second question is will God help you? Romans 8:32 answers that question for you. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
God is both able and willing to supply everything that you need. Therefore, if there are still areas in your life where you are lacking, spend time in prayer asking God to reveal what He is trying to teach you. Maybe there is something in your life that shouldn’t be there, or perhaps He is filling a deeper need in you as He did with Job.
*** My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)
How will you live out Life Principle 11 this week? Is there something that you are in need of? Is God trying to reveal something special to you? Discuss ways that you can stay faithful to God as Job did, even when you don’t understand what is going on. Then spend time in prayer, asking God to draw you into intimate communion with Himself and to transform your life, so that you can affect the world for the sake of His kingdom.
Life Lessons to Remember
It’s in times of great loss or trial that you may be tempted to question whether God really cares about you. After all, certain things have gone terribly wrong and you find that there are needs in your life that continue to go unmet. You believe that He is God—fully able to provide for you—so the questions arise, Why isn’t God delivering me from all of this? Why has He allowed these bad things to happen to me? Haven’t I been faithful? Does He really want to help me?
Yes, He does. In fact, God takes great joy in meeting your needs and supplying the desires of your heart. Yet there is a condition. Life Principle 11 explains, God assumes full responsibility for our needs when we obey Him. Are you submitting yourself fully to God? Are you trusting Him despite your circumstances?
What the Bible Says
Read Job 1:1–3 and Job 1:6-12. What was Satan implying about why Job served God (Job 1:10-11)?
Why do you think God allowed Satan to test Job (Job 1:8; Job 1:12)?
Read Job 1:13–22. What do you think about Job’s response to his adversity (Job 1:20-21)?
Read Job 2:1–10. Why do you think Job was able to remain so strong in the midst of such terrible pain and loss (Job 1:10)?
The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD. (Job 1:21)
What would you have done if you had been in Job’s shoes? Do you think your faith would have withstood all of those trials?
Read Job 42:1–17. According to verse 5, what need did God fill for Job that was not fulfilled by all the things that he’d lost?
*** Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. (Job 13:15)
Why did Job need to lose so much before he could come to this profound understanding of God?
Why do you think God gave twice as much as Job had before (Job 42:10-12)?
What It Means
Job obeyed God, but bad things still happened to him—overnight he found himself in deep pain and terrible need. Why? Was it merely to prove something to Satan, or was there a deeper reason? God was meeting more important needs in Job than we may initially realize. Remember Life Principle 1: Our intimacy with God is His highest priority for our lives, and it determines the impact of our lives. God took full responsibility for bringing Job into the deepest intimacy possible with Himself. And because of Job’s obedience, people throughout the ages have been encouraged by his faithful example.
*** He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. (Job 23:10–11)
Life Examples
Read Luke 11:9–13. What is God’s promise to you (Luke 11:9-10)? What can you expect from God (Luke 11:11-12)?
Why can you count on God to give His very best for you (Luke 11:13)?
Living the Principle
There are two questions that you must settle in your heart: First, can God help you? Do you believe that God is completely able to intervene in your situation? Do you have confidence in the One who laid the foundations of the earth (see Gen. 1), who delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea (see Ex. 14:13–31), and who defeated death to save you from your sins and provide a home for you in heaven (see 1 Cor. 15)?
The second question is will God help you? Romans 8:32 answers that question for you. “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?”
God is both able and willing to supply everything that you need. Therefore, if there are still areas in your life where you are lacking, spend time in prayer asking God to reveal what He is trying to teach you. Maybe there is something in your life that shouldn’t be there, or perhaps He is filling a deeper need in you as He did with Job.
*** My God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:19)
How will you live out Life Principle 11 this week? Is there something that you are in need of? Is God trying to reveal something special to you? Discuss ways that you can stay faithful to God as Job did, even when you don’t understand what is going on. Then spend time in prayer, asking God to draw you into intimate communion with Himself and to transform your life, so that you can affect the world for the sake of His kingdom.
Life Lessons to Remember
- God is able to provide for us (see Ps. 65:4–6).
- God’s integrity and love ensure that He will carry out His promises to us (see Ps. 37:25–28).