The book of James in the New Testament says that we need to consider the experience of Job and remember how he endured (5:11). Both James and Peter acknowledge that our Christian life is altogether a life of trials (1:2; 1 Pet. 4:12). God did not promise that we Christians will have everything to our satisfaction on earth. Perhaps after some hear this word, they will say, “Are you not contradicting yourself? Didn’t you tell us that the jubilee means that all things are to our satisfaction?” Yes, everything is to our satisfaction but not the things themselves; rather, our satisfaction is in God. If we do not have God, nothing is to our satisfaction. If we have God, everything is to our satisfaction. Whether or not something is to our satisfaction does not depend on the environment; it depends on whether or not God is there. Without God, even if all things go smoothly, they are not to our satisfaction. But once we have God, even if things do not go smoothly, they are still to our satisfaction.
What Job encountered in his life was very difficult, but he was still satisfied, and he could still worship and praise. It seems that he was saying, “Being given something and having something taken away are the same. There is no difference between many possessions being given to me and my possessions being taken away from me. It does not matter whether Jehovah gives or Jehovah takes away; to me, they are the same.” This is not easy to experience. Paul said, “I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound” (Phil. 4:12). It did not matter to Paul whether he was poor or rich or whether he was lacking or abounding. Therefore, he could say, “In nothing be anxious” (v. 6). If we only read verse 6, we may think that Paul was in a good situation. In reality though, it was not so, because at that time he was in prison. Moreover, according to the context, he did not receive a rich supply during his imprisonment. The churches had received his nurturing, but they did not supply him adequately. Only the church in Philippi took care of him. This is why he said, “I know also how to be abased, and I know how to abound....I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me” (vv. 12-13). He was very qualified to tell us to be anxious in nothing. Even though he was in a poor circumstance in his imprisonment and did not receive a rich supply at that time, he was able to exhort the saints to be anxious in nothing. He could be anxious in nothing because he made known all his requests to God; thus, the peace of God, which surpasses every man’s understanding, guarded his heart and his thoughts in Christ Jesus (v. 7). In this way, he enjoyed the presence of the God of peace. Therefore, only when we have God, do we have real peace. Even if there is no peace in our environment, if we have God, we have peace.
Man was created for God, and God is man’s blessing. However, because man sinned and became fallen, he lost God and thus his blessing. Hence, man’s whole life became empty. Man not only lost God in his fall, but he also fell into bondage. We may say that human history of six thousand years is a history of losing God and being in bondage. Because man does not have God, he struggles to obtain enjoyment. The result of man’s struggle and strife is that he falls into all kinds of bondage. Everything in human life is a bondage. Even our relatives become a bondage to us: our parents, children, spouse, and siblings are all a bondage. This is why the Lord Jesus said that if we do not love Him above our father or mother, sons or daughters, brothers or sisters, and husband or wife, we are not worthy to be His disciples (Matt. 10:37-38). This means that if our inward being is occupied by any person or thing, the Lord has no ground in us. Since man was created by God, he should be fully occupied by God within. However, this does not mean that we should not take care of our children and parents or that we should not care for our brothers or sisters and wife or husband. What this means is that all the room in our being must be given to the Lord. When the Lord has gained the ground in us, we will be secure. When I was a small child, I saw big sailboats and wondered why their masts were so tall. I thought that the tall mast was only for hanging the sail in order to catch the wind. Later, some sailors told me that the mast is not only for hanging the sail but also for stabilizing the boat. A sailboat with a tall mast cannot be easily capsized. After I was saved, I realized how this is altogether true in our experience. Without the Lord, we are like a sailboat without a mast, having no stability, so that we drift aimlessly. If we do not have the Lord as our “mast,” the “boat” of our human life is unstable and can be easily overturned. Our human life can be capsized if it is empty within. If a glass is filled to the brim, impure things cannot get in. In the same way, if we are filled with the Lord, things that are not of the Lord cannot come in.
Christians in general have a wrong concept, and some preachers even lead them into this wrong concept. They think that although there are sufferings in their human life, when they believe in Jesus, they will have peace in their environment. They consider that although life is full of sufferings and adversities, Jesus, who is full of compassion, will outwardly rescue them from their sufferings when they believe in Him. This is not the biblical concept. Actually, what the gospel says is that we as fallen ones have all kinds of suffering because we have lost God and do not have Him within. Even the outward blessings enjoyed by fallen man are a suffering. After man’s fall, there is no blessing; rather, everything is a suffering. Moreover, not only does fallen man not have the Lord, but he also sins against Him. Therefore, he needs to repent, confess his sins, turn to the Lord, and let Him come into him to be his life and blessing. This is the message of the gospel.
Of course, after receiving the Lord, some have experienced a turning point in their broken marriage, others have been cured of a critical illness, and still others have experienced an improvement in their difficult situations. I have seen many such cases, but it is not always so. After receiving the Lord, some who were gravely ill prayed continually to the Lord for healing, yet the Lord never healed them. Healing does not depend on us; it depends on Him. What the gospel stresses is not that our sickness will be healed but that we need to receive the Lord and allow Him to come into us to be our life and our blessing. Sometimes we may call upon the Lord concerning our circumstances, but He may or may not answer our call. Whether or not He answers depends wholly on Him. The Bible does not say that all those who believe in Jesus will have their sickness healed. Timothy, who was Paul’s dearest young co-worker and whom Paul called his genuine child, had a stomach ailment. Nevertheless, even though Paul had performed many signs and wonders and had healed many diseases (Acts 19:11-12), he told his spiritual son, his beloved Timothy, to “no longer drink water only, but use a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent illnesses” (1 Tim. 5:23). Even Paul himself had a thorn in his flesh (2 Cor. 12:7). Many Bible interpreters say that this thorn was a sickness in his body, most likely a problem with his eyes. This thorn remained with Paul all the time, causing him to suffer. He said, “Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me” (v. 8). However, the Lord seemed to say, “Paul, do not ask this anymore. I will not answer your prayer. I will not remove the thorn from you. Rather, it will constantly remain with you. Nevertheless, My grace is sufficient for you.” A number of people had been healed of their diseases simply by means of handkerchiefs or aprons carried away from Paul’s body. Yet, when he had a thorn in his flesh that caused him to suffer, he had no way to remove it. Furthermore, he was imprisoned late in life. In his first imprisonment, he appealed to Caesar and was released through Caesar’s arbitration, but he was imprisoned a second time during Caesar’s persecution of the Christians and was killed soon afterwards. This was Paul’s experience before the Lord.