My skin and my flesh cling to my bones;
I have escaped with only the skin of my teeth. Job 19:20
Job said that he escaped death and destruction with only the skin of his teeth. He was lamenting that he was down to skin and bones, barely alive and left with nothing else. The expression we hear today of escaping by the skin of our teeth comes from this passage and has come to mean it was a close call. And for Job, it definitely was. But was that all he was saying?
The enemy ravaged Job’s body completely, except maybe his mouth. Satan’s object wasn’t to kill Job but to have Job curse God. And he needed his mouth to do that. Even Job’s wife told him to curse God and die. Yet Job cried out to God and finally, ultimately, praised God. Satan, the adversary, failed.
All Job had left was his mouth to speak. And he used it to bless God.
I know that You can do all things,
and that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.
‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Job 42:2-3
When suffering loss, I want to examine whatever I have left. Satan may be hoping it is the very tool I will use to testify against God. Yet it’s not even slightly a close call. God is good. And I want what remains to be the instrument of my praise and bring glory to the Lord.
Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. 2 Corinthians 4:17-18
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