Most of us have had fair-weather friends. Their friendship is a mirage. As long as you’re rich and carefree, they love you, they stand by your side, and they laugh at your jokes. But as soon as you lose your job or popularity, those fair-weather friends disappear faster than your paycheck. The blows inflicted by such impostors do a lot of damage because they hit you when you’re the most vulnerable.
In the first two chapters of Job, Satan thinks that Job’s faith in God is that of a fair-weather friend. As long as life is good and things are going Job’s way, of course his faith in God is secure. But the loss of loved ones here and a little disease there will make Job’s faith extinct—at least that’s what Satan thinks.
Also note in this passage who the real enemy is, what believers can expect from him, and how he attacks.
Satan attacked Job’s motives, saying that he was blameless and upright only because he had no reason to turn against God (Job 1:9). Everything was going well for Job. Satan wanted to prove that Job was worshiping God not out of love, but because God had given him so much.
Satan accurately analyzed why many people trust God. They are fair-weather believers, following God only when everything is going well. Adversity destroys such superficial faith. But adversity strengthens real faith by causing believers to dig their roots deeper into God in order to withstand the storms.
How deep does your faith go? Put the roots of your faith down deep into God when life’s skies are sunny. Then when the storms come, you will be able to stand strong.
Pastor Seth Wilkerson 