Now we come to lessons learned from Job.  I believe that the first lesson is that God is watching us and is active in the world..  Some people worship impersonal gods.  These supposed gods simply sit back and watch people struggle at best or cause them trouble for their pleasure at worst.  God did not create and abandon mankind, nor any part of His creation.  We can also say that when trouble comes in life for those who are His followers that it is not a result of God punishing them unfairly.  God will never destroy those who are His just to prove that He can.  God has nothing to prove to anyone, other than that He loves them and makes redemption available to them.  Job felt that this was what had happened to him, so he questioned the fairness of God.  If we serve God for material reasons, or see material blessings as a sign that we are in the right relationship with God, then if trouble comes, we will tend to blame or question God.  We also learn from Job that not everyone who is a friend in prosperity is really a friend.  When hard times come, those who are just close to us because of our riches will be quick to desert us.  They may even take pleasure in our suffering, feeling that we somehow deserve it.  Even our closest family members may put us down and question our relationship with God.  Sometimes a break in our relationship with God may be as a result of sin, even if we are His followers.  Then those who are closest to us, especially family and fellow believers should pray for our restoration.  We should never just abandon family or friends and condemn them as sinners being punished by God.  We are all just sinners saved by grace, and should never feel that we are morally superior to anyone else and therefore able to condemn them.  This was the attitude of Job's wife and three friends, and evidently all those around him.  We can also say that the opinion of the majority, even of those who claim to represent God, is not always correct.  Job was definitely the minority in these debates, but he was not wrong because of that fact.  Even if the whole world were to be against us, we must hold fast to God's truth.  We must also acknowledge that this has nothing to do with material blessings.  God never promised us riches, but He did promise to meet our needs.