Life Principle 11

: God Assumes Full Responsibility for Our Needs When We Obey Him

Table of Contents

1. The Principle of God’s Full Responsibility
2. The Struggle of Unmet Needs in Trial
3. Job’s Character and Satan’s Challenge (Job 1:1-12)
4. What Was Satan Saying About Job?
5. Why Did God Allow Satan to Test Job?
6. The Second Test and Job’s Strength (Job 2:1-10)
7. Why Did Job Remain Strong?
8. “The Lord Gave and the Lord Has Taken Away” (Job 1:21)
9. God’s Restoration of Job (Job 42:1-17)
10. What Need Did God Fill That Material Things Could Not?
11. Why Did God Give Job Twice as Much?
12. Looking Back at Life Principle 1: Intimacy with God
13. What God Promises When We Ask (Luke 11:9-13)
14. Can God Help? Will God Help?
15. Asking What God Wants to Teach You
16. God Is Able to Provide (Psalm 65:4-6)
17. God’s Integrity and Love Ensure He Will Carry It Out (Psalm 37:25-28)

Beloved friend, this principle is one of the most liberating truths in the Christian life. When we walk in obedience, our heavenly Father assumes full responsibility for our needs. That does not mean the absence of trial, but it does mean His faithful provision in His perfect timing. The story of Job is our classroom. Let us open the Scriptures and learn.

The Principle of God’s Full Responsibility

God does not leave His obedient children to fend for themselves. He is the Provider, the Sustainer, and the Restorer. Obedience is the pathway into His care.

The Struggle of Unmet Needs in Trial

During a trial we often question whether God loves us. This usually happens when we face an unmet need. We ask, “Why hasn’t God delivered this to me? Why have bad things been allowed to happen?” These questions are honest, but the answer is found not in our feelings but in the character of God.

Job’s Character and Satan’s Challenge (Job 1:1-12)

Job 1:1-12 (NKJV)
1 There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil.
2 And seven sons and three daughters were born to him.
3 Also, his possessions were seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, five hundred female donkeys, and a very large household, so that this man was the greatest of all the people of the East.
4 And his sons would go and feast in their houses, each on his appointed day, and would send and invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
5 So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, “It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Thus Job did regularly.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
8 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?”
9 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing?
10 Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.

What Was Satan Saying About Job?

Satan claimed that Job’s devotion was mercenary. He said Job feared God only because of the blessings and the protective hedge. Remove the blessings, Satan argued, and Job would curse God. The enemy always questions the purity of our motives.

Why Did God Allow Satan to Test Job?

God allowed the test so that Job’s genuine faith could be proven, and so that Satan’s accusation could be answered. God knew Job’s heart. The trial was not a sign of God’s displeasure; it was a stage on which true integrity would shine. God remains sovereign even when He permits testing.

The Second Test and Job’s Strength (Job 2:1-10)

Job 2:1-10 (NKJV)
1 Again there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them to present himself before the Lord.
2 And the Lord said to Satan, “From where do you come?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.”
3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.”
4 So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life.
5 But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!”
6 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.”
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.
8 And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes.
9 Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.

Why Did Job Remain Strong?

Job remained strong because his trust was in God Himself, not merely in God’s gifts. He accepted both good and adversity from the hand of the Lord. His integrity was rooted in relationship, not in circumstances.

“The Lord Gave and the Lord Has Taken Away” (Job 1:21)

Job 1:21 (NKJV)
And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

This is not passive resignation; it is active worship. Job blessed the name of the Lord in the darkest hour.

God’s Restoration of Job (Job 42:1-17)

After Job’s encounter with God and his prayer for his friends, the Lord restored him.
Job 42:7-17 (NKJV)
7 And so it was, after the Lord had spoken these words to Job, that the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “My wrath is aroused against you and your two friends, for you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.
8 Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, go to My servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and My servant Job shall pray for you. For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, as My servant Job has.”
9 So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went and did as the Lord commanded them; for the Lord had accepted Job.
10 And the Lord restored Job’s losses when he prayed for his friends. Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.
11 Then all his brothers, all his sisters, and all those who had been his acquaintances before, came to him and ate food with him in his house; and they consoled him and comforted him for all the adversity that the Lord had brought upon him. Each one gave him a piece of silver and each a ring of gold.
12 Now the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning; for he had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, one thousand yoke of oxen, and one thousand female donkeys.
13 He also had seven sons and three daughters.
14 And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch.
15 In all the land were found no women so beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers.
16 After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren for four generations.
17 So Job died, old and full of days.

What Need Did God Fill for Job That Was Not Fulfilled by All the Things He Had Lost?

God gave Job Himself. In the earlier chapters Job had heard of God by the hearing of the ear; now his eye saw Him (Job 42:5). The deepest need was intimate knowledge of God. Material restoration was secondary to this greater gift.

Why Do You Think God Gave Job Twice as Much?

God’s restoration was abundant because He is a God of grace, not of mere compensation. The double portion testified that the trial had not been abandonment; it had been refinement. God honors those who remain faithful.

Looking Back at Life Principle 1: Intimacy with God

Yes, this connects directly to intimacy with God. Life Principle 1 centers on knowing God personally. Job’s greatest gain was not the doubled livestock or the new family; it was a deeper, firsthand knowledge of the Lord. Intimacy is the true reward of obedience through trial.

What God Promises When We Ask (Luke 11:9-13)

Luke 11:9-13 (NKJV)
9 “So I say to you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.
11 If a son asks for bread from any father among you, will he give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he give him a serpent instead of a fish?
12 Or if he asks for an egg, will he offer him a scorpion?
13 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”

God promises to give good gifts—most of all, the Holy Spirit—to those who ask. He is a better Father than the best earthly father.

Can God Help? Will God Help?

The answer to both questions is yes. God is able, and in His timing He is willing. He assumes full responsibility for the needs of those who obey Him. His timing is perfect even when it is not immediate.

Asking What God Wants to Teach You

In the middle of an unmet need, consider asking, “Lord, what do You want to teach me?” The trial is often the classroom in which He deepens your trust and intimacy with Him.

God Is Able to Provide (Psalm 65:4-6)

Psalm 65:4-6 (NKJV)
4 Blessed is the man You choose, And cause to approach You, That he may dwell in Your courts. We shall be satisfied with the goodness of Your house, Of Your holy temple.
5 By awesome deeds in righteousness You will answer us, O God of our salvation, You who are the confidence of all the ends of the earth, And of the far-off seas;
6 Who established the mountains by His strength, Being clothed with power.

He is able. The God who established the mountains is more than able to meet your needs.

God’s Integrity and Love Ensure He Will Carry It Out (Psalm 37:25-28)

Psalm 37:25-28 (NKJV)
25 I have been young, and now am old; Yet I have not seen the righteous forsaken, Nor his descendants begging bread.
26 He is ever merciful, and lends; And his descendants are blessed.
27 Depart from evil, and do good; And dwell forevermore.
28 For the Lord loves justice, And does not forsake His saints; They are preserved forever, But the descendants of the wicked shall be cut off.

David’s lifelong testimony is clear: the righteous are not forsaken. God’s integrity and love guarantee that He will finish what He has begun in your life.

Friend, when you obey, God assumes full responsibility for your needs. He proved it with Job, and He will prove it with you. Seek Him. Trust Him. Bless His name—whether He gives or takes away. He is faithful.

Amen.