A Totally Fair Question

This past fall, I audited a Biblical Narrative course through Asbury Theological Seminary. The
professor, along with several other biblical studies experts, recommended breaking in your
independent exegetical practices in the New Testament, the Gospels perhaps. Definitely don’t start
with a challenging, confusing text like Job, they said. Well, “Don’t start with Job…” was all I needed
to hear. Nobody puts Baby in a biblical corner. Job it was, then.

Job is hard. Job is confusing. Job is LOOOOOONG. And, as it turns out, Job is exactly
what I needed to read during this season of waiting.

Job begins with a brief description by the narrator of the main character and his family. Job is upright
and blameless. He fears God and turns away from evil. His family is awesome, and he’s healthy,
wealthy, and wise. All good things, all good things. The scene quickly transitions to this heavenly
court scene with a host of heavenly beings, including the Satan, reporting to the Lord. Today, on the
17 month anniversary of receiving our referral, that’s who I want to talk about: the Satan.
The Satan in Job is more accurately described as the Accuser. Think modern day court proceedings.
If the Lord is the judge wearing the black robe and holding the gavel, then the Satan is the
prosecuting attorney wearing tailored black suit and slicked back hair.

A judge and a prosecuting attorney are not enemies; in fact, they function within the same judicial 
system. The prosecuting attorney is charged with bringing the facts of a case before the judge against 
the defendant; he bears the burden of proof. Think of the Satan as an accountability partner who takes 
his job a little too seriously. The Lord basically asks the Satan, “Have you been doing your job?” The 
conversation continues to unfold like this: The Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant 
Job? There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns 
away from evil.”

Then Satan answered the Lord, “Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a fence around 
him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his 
possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out your hand now, and touch all that he has, and 
he will curse you to your face.” – Job 1: 8-11

Essentially, the Satan wants to discern whether Job’s fear of God is borne of a contract or a covenant. 
In a contractual relationship, both parties are operating under if/then agreements. If God fences Job 
in, then Job fears him. In a covenant relationship, both parties are operating under no-matter- 
what/then agreements. No matter what, Job fears God.

Y’all, that’s a totally fair question. And I have to wonder if, somewhere up there, a prosecuting 
attorney has had to ask the same thing of me recently. My adult life has been pretty sweet. There’s 
been a pretty tall white picket fence around me. So, it’s been pretty easy for me to love Jesus and 
praise God. Not a lot of lamenting has gone on around here in the last decade or so.

Seventeen months in, and we are still waiting on our approval letter. It feels like that white picket 
fence is starting to lean and needs a fresh coat of paint. I have to wonder if He’s noticed that praising 
him doesn’t come easy or often any more. I’m not cursing him to his face, but I’m also not resting in 
him right now either. There’s a whole lot of room in the Bible, particularly the Old Testament, 
devoted to lamenting and petitioning. In fact, Job uses up all of his press time from chapters 3 
through 38 doing those exact two things. And, in the end, God declares that Job has spoken rightly 
about him. 

I’m thankful that there is room in the biblical narrative for lamenting and petitioning, because
that’s so where I am right now. But I’m also thankful for these little scriptural gut-checks to
remind me of the no-matter-whatness of the covenant, a no-matter-whatness that goes both 

ways.

You may recall that our original adoption agency closed and left us and nine other families
scrambling to find a way to bring our children home. Since that agency closed in July, none of the
families with our new agency had received an approval letter. Until this week. Two families finally
did receive approval letters this week. So even though we weren’t one of them, there’s hope in that,
thanks be to God. Until our letter comes, whatever may come, if those heavenly beings are called to
court, I want the Accuser to be able to say, “Oh, Kameron? Yeah, don’t worry, she’s all in. That’s a
covenant you don’t have to worry about.”

Please continue to pray for all 5 of us during this journey. 
In God's Grace,Kameron, Nathan, J. Henry, Amelia and Little Girl