Spiritual Growth - The Pathway of Suffering

Job was a servant of the Lord and the devil desired to have evil things to happen to him so that his character would be brought down. Then God, in His wisdom and own purpose, allowed Satan to do certain things to Job that that he desired to do. I have realized that God allowed those things to happen to Job to help him deepen his faith, to help him define his character, and to help him know God in a more personal way. I also know even though God allowed these things to happen to Job to test him, he set limits on Satan as to how far he could go to bring evil into Job’s life.
We may not always like what is happening, it may be hurtful, harmful, and destructive... all these things and more, but God always puts a limit on them, and has a purpose for allowing them to happen. And that purpose always is that ultimately as we go through things and learn how to deal with them, it's that we come out on the other side stronger and more Christ-like, having a new desire for purity and Godliness, and having new experiences to help us minister to the needs of others who are going through the same things (2 Corinthians 1:3-5).
In knowing that everything is all God’s will and that he has allowed these things to happen to in the first place, and that God won’t test us past our limit, then we have to get through and feel all of the pain. Yea, we're going to cry, pray, ask why, get angry, feel abused, feel confused, experience loss and lost ness... lose sleep, and a million possible other feelings that we might feel and experience during these times. And all this with the ultimate goal that we will be purified, and the meaningless things in life will be taken away so that the brightness and Glory of God will shine in us that much more brightly (Job 23:10).
We need to try and take each painful situation and view it as a "wake-up call". God may be calling us to start growing inwardly, spiritually, in dimensions of holiness, commitment and service. Oftentimes, the means of this growth is the pathway of suffering (Job 1:20-22).
Job's first response was to cry out in grief, but then to immediately fall down on the ground in worship, and focus his attention on God. He took an attitude of submission to the sovereign will of God. He sat in silence for 7 days, saying nothing, meditating and rehearsing all the traumatic events that had just happened to him. During these times we need to focus our attention like we never have before on the Person of God...in repentance, and humble submission, seeking a new relationship of closeness to Jesus Christ, calling out to Him for mercy. Before I read Job I was afraid and felt uncomfortable with sharing with other people what was going on and what I was feeling inside. From this I have learned that it is ok for us to talk to the people we trust most and not have to worry about keeping it to ourself. Job talked about what was going on with his most trusted friends. He talked to them about his feelings, doubts, and sadness. Even though his friends didn’t really "get it" he talked over everything. He expressed all of his feelings of sadness and hopelessness that was in his heart... all throughout the book of Job you see this... him putting into words all the pain that was inside his own heart... not hiding it (Job 7:11).
With this we need to strive to be all that we can be for our Father, bringing GLORY to his name and sharing what he has given us to others.