And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:12).
There are passages in the Bible referred to as "hard" because they are tough in some ways to accept as the will, purposes, or actions of God. Most readers of the book of Job find it grossly unfair for the Lord to let Satan destroy the good life of Job merely because Satan makes a bet with God that Job will lose faith when disaster hits him. The main result of "hard passages" is they do not allow us to tidily enclose God in a nifty little box, tying a bow around it and declaring "Look, I got this God thing down pat!" The Scriptures do not allow anyone to make such claims.
Now occasionally political parties arise that would take proprietorship of the Deity. They claim, in effect, they entirely circumference in toto the will, purposes, and actions of God. They have him down pat and ensconced in a little box duly tied with a colorful bow and have Him safely secured in their possession. Ofttimes we find it hard to discern the color of that bow – whether blue or red?
