Fair-Weather Faith

Read Job 1:1–2:13

1. The members of the heavenly court came again to present them-selves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them.
2. “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan. Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”
3. Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? . . . He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”
4. Satan replied to the Lord, . . . “A man will give up everything he has to save his life.
5. But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”
6. “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.”
7. So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils. Job 2:1-7

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 this reading, 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.