This chapter begins with the word “again” – it tells the reader that Satan appears before God again similar to what happened in Job 1:6-8. In the first instance, God allows Satan to strike injuries on his family except Job himself. Job emerged victoriously in his faith towards God (Job 1:22). In the second instance, God allows Satan to also inflict harm on Job. Job 2:10 ends by saying that Job did not sin with his lips. And this unfolds the subsequent chapters that describe and surface Job’s heart.

But as we look at how God allows Satan to test and strengthen Job’s faith, let us take some time to reflect the trials that we have encountered beforehand in our life. First, we should not speculate whether God uses every ill health and calamity that befalls us for a reason to test our faith. One simple fact is this: we fall sick at times due to our negligence and failure to take care of our own bodies, period. But we can still step back and examine whether there is any red flag from what we are experiencing – whether there is any lesson that we can learn directly or indirectly. Another example - a student who did not study hard enough and received a poor result from one class assessment. The low grade serves as a direct signal to evaluate and think how he can improve on future assessments.

Once again, we cannot deduce that God uses every problem in life for such direct purpose like a wake-up call. Thus, we should not blame ourselves or others when we are in such a situation. A good example is an aging body; it may be susceptible to critical health episodes of one kind or the other. A senior who is in such circumstance learns how to age in the grace of God, period.

With the above being said and in His sovereignty, God may allow and use a health crisis to prompt a believer pertaining to following His will in a certain matter. In my case, something happened to me in late 2022 that led me to become a pastor here at our church (note: the limited space here does not warrant me to write how God also guided me through His Word).

It is appropriate to give a wider context by connecting that crossroads to another one in 1991 when I first stepped into full-time Christian service. Not by mere coincidence, I experienced two severe bleedings at the beginning of these two crossroads. First, an army training mishap in 1987 ruptured my urethra when I was 21 years old. Second, a supposedly safe procedure for the ligated hemorrhoids in Sep 2022 led to an alarming health scare. In both incidents, I lost a lot of blood and was sent by ambulance to the hospital in a semi-conscious state. The first incident was more serious as I needed immediate surgery to drain the urine out of my bladder and to repair the urethra tear. In the later incident, a pint of blood had to be immediately transfused to replace the severe loss. I was then put under observation for the ulcer where the dried hemorrhoids had dropped off, to cease bleeding. Thankfully, it stopped; otherwise, an operation to sear it to prevent further bleeding would have been needed.

These two bleeding incidents - separated by a span of 35 years, become two key cycles of my life. Both are stirring wake-up calls that our lives are in the hands of God. It is by His grace that I am still alive today to serve Him. While the first bleeding incident resulted in my vocational Christian service calling and subsequent missions to Japan, the second bleeding incident redirected me to become a pastor.

Dear brothers and sisters, are you encountering a situation in your life where you are wondering whether it is a wake-up call from the Lord? James 1:2-5 tells us “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.”

PRAYER: Dear God, I am presently going through a situation that I wonder whether it may be your prompting for me… (specify and pray to God what you are going through) … According to James 1:2-5, I ask for your patience and wisdom to teach and guide me. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.