1. Remember that God is sovereign.
Satan could do no more to Job than God allowed. Regardless of what may touch our lives, God is in control. Regardless of appearances to the contrary, God is in control. Never doubt that, even if you don’t understand how!

2. Remember that God’s ways are beyond ours.
God’s wisdom is infinite. God’s vantage point is eternal. He is moved by considerations far beyond the scope of our comprehension. Trying to pour His wisdom into our minds would be like trying to pour the ocean into a Dixie cup. Whenever we do not understand why God is allowing us to be afflicted, we must trust Him fully. He knows what is best for our benefit and for His glory. Give God the benefit of the doubt!

3. Allow yourself to grieve.
The Bible never instructs us to be stoic when our lives are touched by afflictions. We can grieve when our lives are touched by tragic circumstances. We can weep. God understands tears.

4. Ask God for the wisdom to filter the advice others give you.
Job’s friends were eager to give him theological advice. In the process, they misrepresented God and injured the very person they were trying to help. Be careful lest the advice others are eager to give you serve to demoralize you and weaken your faith.

5. Don’t allow circumstances to obscure your view of God.
It is easy to allow the clouds of trouble and affliction to obscure our view of God. It is easy to believe what we feel about God rather than what we know about God when our lives are torn apart by things or happenings which we do not understand.

6. Take inventory of your life.
It is usually in times of affliction that we are the most open to evaluation. In the good times we tend to celebrate while in the bad times we tend to evaluate. It is good to take personal inventory of our lives with a view toward eliminating anything displeasing to God.

7. Look to God for wisdom.
Look to God for wisdom in times of difficulty. Human wisdom fails. God’s wisdom, contained in His Word, can give us the hope and perspective we need to hang in, hang on, and come through.

8. Remember that God is able.
There is absolutely nothing that can touch our lives apart from God’s knowledge. God is not surprised or baffled by anything that touches our lives. We must always remember that He is bigger than anything that touches our lives. He is better equipped to deal with anything that touches our lives. And, He knows exactly what to do with everything that touches our lives.

9. We will understand it better by and by.
We will not always understand why God has allowed certain things to touch our lives. But, one day God will make it all clear. “For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face; now I know in part,” wrote Paul, “but then I shall know fully just as I also have been fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). In the words of the old Gospel song, “We will understand it better by and by.”

10. We should love and serve God, anyway!
Satan’s assertion was that man serves God only because of the personal benefits he receives. Satan posited that man serves God only because of the blessings he receives. “Remove those blessings,” said Satan, “and a man’s fabric of devotion will quickly unravel.” The book of Job teaches us that God is worthy of our love and devotion, even apart from His blessings to us.