All Christians face trials and tribulations. Our Lord Jesus walked through His share of troubles, and so it should be no surprise that when we follow Him, we will go through those as well. (Just look at the lives of every one of His disciples!) But many Christians still find themselves demanding an answer from God as to why, after all the good things they've done and all the bad things they didn't do, are they still being "punished" with life's difficulties?
The book of Job describes one of the Bible's godliest men. We read that the devil approached God and asked permission to test Job, and that God said 'yes'. There are two important lessons we must learn from this story. First, sometimes, God says 'yes'. Our Heavenly Father, who loves us and protects us, will sometimes allow bad things into our lives. This is a difficult lesson! We know that God is good and loving, but in His infinite wisdom, as the one who sees the end from the beginning, His plans sometimes involve us passing through the valley of the shadow of death. The good news is that during these times, He is with us, and we do not need to fear any evil. (Ps 23) We can ask Him to help us understand what we're going through, but some of those answers won't be told until we enter our eternal home. In the meantime, we can always trust Him, always rely on Him, and always look forward to the promises of healing and deliverance, even though those promises might not be fulfilled until we enter His presence.
But the second lesson, the happier truth, is that the devil always has to ask permission! And it's not just the devil, but every bad thing that wants to ruin our lives is held behind the wall of God's loving power. Child of God, nothing will ever lay a finger on you without God's explicit 'yes'. This is a cause for celebration! Can you think of just how many diseases, wild animals, accidents, injuries, earthquakes, stray meteors, and other calamities have broken against the walls of God's impenetrable love for you? Even before you came to Christ, God was carefully steering the joys and sorrows of life in just the right measures to bring you to Him.
Paul goes on to say that if you can learn to be content with just food and covering, there is great gain to be found in godly living (v. 6). In Matthew 6, Jesus tells us to seek first God's kingdom and God's righteousness, and He will provide us with the food an clothing we need. God doesn't promise us heaven in this life, but He promises we will be there one day, and until that day comes, He will never leave our side.