Job seemed to have an established, solid identity: blameless, upright, God-fearing, wealthy man. For a time, Satan stole that identity from him. But Job’s identity—and his wealth—was restored when he came to fully understand God’s identity as the sovereign creator and judge.

But something much bigger was going on in Satan’s attack on Job. Satan was actually attacking God. Essentially, Satan accused God of bribing people to obey and follow Him

Satan often still does the same thing when he attacks us—he attacks God through us. When we think of an enemy, we often look at another person. But remember, our spiritual enemy, Satan, seeks to destroy everyone in his path. We can be blindsided by this spiritual enemy and forget that it’s not only us and our family he’s attacking, but also God—the God in whom, ultimately, we have our identity. If we lose sight of God’s identity as the creator and as the ultimate arbiter of right and wrong, then we also lose sight of our own identity.

Like Job, I hadn’t committed any particular sin to bring trials into my life. But in this fallen world, trials abound, enough to inflict everyone. Add to that the trials brought on by my dad’s pursuit of his illicit desires, and my family faced some tremendous difficulties. And those trials could be traced back further still, to grandparents and great-grandparents. Anyway, because of all that, my dad found a false identity in a dark place, and that false identity then pulsed out and damaged many of those around him.

Maybe you’re in a similar situation. Your difficulties may also result from someone else’s poor choices. Thankfully, God has provided the way for us to move beyond anger and bitterness—a way that will enable Him to make it well with our soul.