If Job cursed God for what befell those he loved and was given to protect and care for, to whom or to what would he turn then?
The temptation as delivered through his 'friends' was curse God and die. Since Job loved God, he would not take their advice regardless of the crushing losses. I've been there, and life on the other side of such a clamatous thing is much deeper in spiritual growth.
Now, ask yourself how this works if there is no God but only your belief in God. If when crushed with loss you give up your belief in the nature of God, then what had you to start with before calamity struck? Well, you had a magical state of believing in soemthing nonexistent (Psychologists call it Magic Thinking, a characteristic too prevalent in democrts, BTW).
So you could replace that non-existent 'thing' with some other, like drugs or money or power to crush others or even service to humanity. But the issue of that non-exitent belief remains at the core of loss, not growth. If we do in fact have a spirit component in us, then that component will remain empty if we are not seeking God to'resonate with that core.
God grows us when we confess Him. As Paul put it, be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus ...
When we see a man like Jesse Jackson or Al Gore or Jimmy Swaggert or that guy named Baker, we see someone who was living on magic thinking, not on a resonance of God in the inner person, the spirit.
What happens to those like that when the magic is broken? well, Jackson became a proponent of abortion and a con man. Al Gore went from claiming to be pro-life to supporting and defending the slagughter of alive unborn as non-humans, and he too is a conman. What I see in Baker and Swaggert is very different, so far. They have turned to serving, with humility, rather than prideful manipulation of others and defending evil.
BTW, what defines happiness? How do we know what it means to be happy without the contrast of sadness? The issues really turn upon the tragedy of what happened to Job's family, not even his wealth or happiness. I know men who's families are their very life, above even a relationship with God. I know businessmen who have no room for a relationship with God because they are completely engulfed with their business life and all the trappings tied thereto. (Ted Turner ring a bell? The man has no time for 'godiness')
Swaggart might have had some genuine faith, but allowed his flesh to dominate his walk. It’s perfectly credible. The bible is filled with second-chancers as well as some who fell after doing what they were most noted for.
Post #63... wonderful post M.