“Naysayer: one who denies, refuses, opposes, or is skeptical or cynical about something” (Merriam-Webster). We’ve all experienced naysayers to some degree. Sometimes they band together – maybe even carry signs! We can walk the other way most of the time, but when they target us, it might be difficult to rise above their offensive attacks.

Job was a godly man who had it all, then suddenly lost it all. And, to add insult to injury, his friends caused him much heartache and torment…continually. Maybe we won’t have as many catastrophic afflictions as Job, but we certainly will experience people like Job’s friends. Let’s call them naysayers. Even those who mean well can be naysayers. They are simply a part of life. Let’s venture further into Resolution #9: I will rise above the naysayers.

After Job’s extreme loss, three of his friends sat with him. They were sure God had punished him for disobedience, and they laid into him. Insult after insult – all based on a presumption of sin. They debated for 28 chapters of the book of Job. Here is a sample of what Zophar declared to his “wicked” friend Job in our 20:25 verse for this post.

Though he flees from an iron weapon,
a bronze-tipped arrow pierces him.
He pulls it out of his back,
the gleaming point out of his liver.
Terrors will come over him;
total darkness lies in wait for his treasures.
A fire unfanned will consume him
and devour what is left in his tent.

Job 20:24-26

Wow!

What his friends told him might have been okay, had their presupposition been true: that everything happens under a strict principle of justice – that, if you’re wise and good, you get success and reward; and if you’re evil and unwise, you get disaster and punishment. However, this principle is not in God’s economy. But even Job believed it. In fact, he thought he understood God’s ways to the point where he actually accused God when the issues of his life didn’t match up with his righteous living.

May we have the humility to step through life without all the answers. May we take the blows without second-guessing our sovereign God and blaming Him for the ills we face. May we trust in God’s character and promises despite the naysayers we are sure to encounter.

Let’s look deeper at Job’s experience to help us understand more about naysayers and how to handle them. I see a couple important truths.

1. Naysaying is an organized offense

Even when things are going well for us, a person here, a person there, may fling an attack against our character, our joy, our commitment to God and His kingdom. Sometimes we can’t escape the negativity. They may not know it, but the naysayers in our lives are probably part of an organized effort to bring us down.

The attack against Job was organized. He had it all, and he was the greatest man in the area. But his story jumps quickly to a scene with Satan and other angels reporting to God (Job 1:6ff). Satan told God he’d been roaming the earth (Job 1:7), presumably looking for people he can influence to turn or keep away from God and His gracious gospel (1 Peter 5:8). After all, Satan does mean the one who is opposed, or the accuser or prosecutor. Job 1:7 and 1 Peter 5:8 describe Satan’s roaming as a regular activity. He regularly roams “throughout the earth, going back and forth…looking for someone to devour.”

Though he is one, finite being, Satan organized an army. Filled with pride, he fell and very likely convinced 1/3 of all the angels to follow him instead of God (Isaiah 14:12-15, Revelation 12:3-12, esp. verses 4 and 9). Satan and his fallen angels (demons) try to lead the whole world astray. They are a corps of deceitful cunning. How organized they must be as they watch, prowl, and influence people in this world (2 Corinthians 4:4, Ephesians 2:2, John 12:31, 1 John 5:19).

And they watched Job, which is why Satan knew enough about him to look elsewhere for someone to devour. Satan didn’t want to spend time trying to ‘devour’ someone God had greatly blessed (Job 1:8-10). But after some negotiation, Job’s blessings were wiped away. Oxen and donkeys were stolen. Sheep and servants were taken by fire. Camels were stolen. Servants were murdered. Job’s sons and daughters were killed. Boils inflicted Job’s entire body, head to toe. And his wife berated him (Job 2:9).

This was a horrid, multi-phased, premeditated, and organized attack against Job and his character: “no ne like him; blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil” (Job 1:8 and 2:3). Yet he maintained his integrity (Job 2:3 and 9).

We may think Satan’s attack ended there, but it didn’t. Job’s friends visited him.

They weren’t there to comfort him. They intended to criticize him and point out the errors of his ways. They came with society’s message – a society designed by Satan and implemented by his demons.

Even those who think they are offering quality spiritual advice may be part of an organized effort to dislodge our faith and commitment to God, His truth, and His gospel.

Following God can be tricky at times. When our world crumbles and friends come alongside us with accusations, we might be tempted to accuse God.

But we can rise above the naysayers. Remember that, despite our suffering, God ultimately works for the good of those who love Him. He is shaping us.

We know that in all things
God works for the good of those who love him,
who have been called according to his purpose.
For those God foreknew he also predestined
to be conformed to the image of his Son,
that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters.
And those he predestined, he also called;
those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

Romans 8:28-30

2. We rise above the naysayers by entrusting ourselves to God

A fourth friend named Elihu stepped forward (Job 32). He wasn’t adamant about the widely-believed principle of justice. He suggested that God may use suffering for warning and character building. He didn’t have the answers, but he rebuked Job for judging God.

Then came a supernatural storm from which God responded. It was a physical weather system, but it came with audible and very pointed questions for Job (Job 38-39). “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?…Have you ever given orders to the morning?…Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep?..Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens?…Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?…Do you give the horse its strength or clothe its neck with a flowing mane?…Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?…”

Job quickly realized his unworthiness to even reply to God (Job 40:4-5). He admitted his failed understanding of God and His ways (Job 42:3). And here is what Job said at the end of the book:

My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”

Job 42:5-6

Job bowed in humility. He knew he would never fully comprehend the reasons God does what He does or allows what He allows, and especially why he had to endure the great loss we read about in the first two chapters of Job.

Here’s what we learn from Job’s dialogue with God:

• We don’t have the perspective to understand the why.
• We are no match to the authoritative power of God.
• Our limitations should be accompanied by humble trust in God’s wisdom and character. God cares and He knows what He’s doing.

Do we trust Him to keep His promises and act on his love and care for us? This world has its beauty, but it is also unsafe. The prince of this world is leading an organized offense against us. When we follow God, we will encounter people who plot against us and work to bring us down. But God has full authority with complete knowledge and understanding, and He knows when the naysayers get under our skin. Remember, God is wise, good, and just. We can entrust our lives into His care.

I shared Romans 8:28-30 above – that God works for the good of those who love Him. I close with the next 9 verses.

What, then, shall we say in response to these things?
If God is for us, who can be against us?
He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—
how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?

Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen?
It is God who justifies.
Who then is the one who condemns?
No one.
Christ Jesus who died—
more than that, who was raised to life—
is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us.

Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?
Shall trouble or hardship or persecution
or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

As it is written:
“For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

No, in all these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loved us.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
neither angels nor demons,
neither the present nor the future, nor any powers,
neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation,
will be able to separate us from the love of God
that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:31-39

6 more resolutions to come…

The resolutions and Bible books in this series:

I will…

1. Worship God Alone (Exodus 20:24)
2. Be More Holy (Leviticus 20:24)
3. Aim High (Numbers 20:24)
4. Trust in God’s Strength (Judges 20:25)
5. Nurture Quality Friendships (1 Samuel 20:25)
6. Stand for God’s Government (2 Samuel 20:25)
7. Follow God through Highs and Lows (1 Kings 20:25)
8. Let God Win My Battles (2 Chronicles 20:25)
9. Rise Above the Naysayers (Job 20:25)
10. Trust God’s Ways (Proverbs 20:25)
11. Allow God to Correct Me (Ezekiel 20:25)
12. Serve Others Without the Glory (Matthew 20:25)
13. Rely On the Wisdom of God (Luke 20:25)
14. Trust the Words of My Savior (John 20:25)
15. Complete the Work God Has for Me (Acts 20:25)

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If you want to dialog more about highs and lows, feel free to leave a comment or email me at authordlv@att.net. As I wrote above, the highs will come for those who earnestly follow God.

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