Welcome back to this new week on the podcast.

We know that God makes use of Satan in our suffering.

He allows it.

In fact, God makes use of Satan in our suffering in order to sanctify us to make us holier, which is a shocking fact for you, Pastor John.

It's something you like to stress from 2 Corinthians 12-7, which is the text that really is like

a banner over that truth. God is using Satan to make us holier. And that theme Satan's role in

our holiness is the theme that we've covered over the years, as you'll see in the APJ book on pages 341 and 342, if you want a little digest of where we've been.

But even saying that God uses Satan doesn't exactly settle all the questions that come up,

as we see today in this email from a listener named Aaron.

Pastor John, I followed desiring God for years and recently came across your 2013 article, Dubai, Amazing and Strategic City. In that article, a question about

Job's suffering was answered by quoting Job 4211. They showed him sympathy and comforted him

for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him.

I was shocked that this was the go-to verse, as it seems to state that the Lord directly brought

suffering upon Job. Why not refer back to chapters 1 and 2, which clearly show that Satan

caused Job's suffering. God allowed it,

but he did not bring it upon Job. Many lessons can be drawn from Job's trials, yet this

response made it seem as though suffering comes directly from God rather than being something

he sovereignly allows for a greater purpose. Could you clarify why Job 4211 was chosen instead of highlighting

the conversation between God and Satan in the opening chapters?

I had just given a lecture on missions there in Dubai, and during the Q&A afterwards, a brother

from Africa asked me if I thought God allowed or brought about the sufferings of Job. Now, I didn't

want to dodge the question by saying, well, in chapter two of Job, Satan causes Job sickness,

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