What I've Learned From Job

After reading Job I was given insights into my personal struggles and suffering in general.

1. Just because I am suffering doesn't mean it's because I sinned.
   
   
2. Although it seems God's promises to me have failed, they won't in time. If it seems that God has abandoned me, it doesn't mean I should abandon Him. I will hold to my integrity.
   
   
3. Being accused of doing evil or wrong, or if someone just feels I am wrong, doesn't mean I have to agree in order to keep the peace-- especially when I honestly believe I haven't done wrong. I will hold to my integrity.
   
   
4. If my conscience is clear, it doesn't make me innocent. If it is defiled, it doesn't make me guilty either. God is the one who justifies.
   
   
5. God doesn't always give men what they deserve, because His purposes are beyond our tracing out.
   

These are the situations where I know my integrity can be tested:

1. I lose a promotion, respect, or friendship because I refuse to participate in wickedness.
   
   
2. I am afraid to be honest about what I believe, because I may risk being abandoned.
   
   
3. I maintain my innocence even when every one around me confesses to a particular sin.
   
   
4. I maintain my guilt, when every one around me believes what I've done is okay.
   
   
5. I wait on God even when people, Satan, or bad thinking patterns try to convince me to feel shame when I go through suffering.
   
   
6. I try to trust that God loves me when I suffer or feel abandoned, and I can not perceive God's presence.
   
   
7. I chose the hard path even when I have the opportunity to use wicked means to achieve my ends; and while integrity, honesty and trust in God seems like it's not working or that it gets in the way.