On Feb. 8, gospel great Marvin Sapp released the hit song “He Saw the Best in Me!” The lyrics went like this:

He saw the best in me, when everyone else around could only see the worst in me.

He’s mine and I’m his, it doesn’t matter what I did, for He only sees me for who I am.

He saw the best; he saw my smile, my laugh, my hurt. He saw the best in me.

We have gone through fog and we have gone through the trials, but it doesn’t matter because in the end we will walk out hand in hand because he saw the best in me.

As Sapp was writing this song, I’m sure he thought many times: Why would God see the best in me because of all the things I have done wrong? Just like Marvin Sapp wondering why, the book of Job may have you wondering why God saw the best in Job and blessed him like no other person in the Bible.

According to the English Standard Version, the book of Job is a wonderful masterpiece on why God allows good people to suffer. The book’s first five verses give us a background check on who Job is and what he is doing. As we can see, Job had it going on. He had a family, livestock and was the wealthiest man in the east. Job was powerful, but he still loved God.

Many scholars and theologians have stated that Job is the first book of the Bible. Chapter 1, Verse 6 describes Satan/Lucifer’s fall from grace of directing God’s choir to being a traveling bum. However, notice that Satan is upright, walking, talking and moving freely in the earth with the permission of God. But after Genesis 2:14, the devil has become mobile only on his belly and lost freedom of talking with God.

Now we see in Job 1:6-12 that Satan wants to destroy Job because he feels that he’s only trusting God because he is wealthy and not had any problems (storms) in his life. Because Satan believes this, he is able to test Job with the permission of God. If God voluntary told Satan to test you, how would it look, sound, taste, hear or feel like? Would you pass or fail the test? Could God give you a good account like he did Job?

As we pause momentarily to answer those questions, we may be wondering what God saw in Job. According to Verse 1, Job was chosen, blameless, upright and stayed away from evil. Secondly, God saw that Job was a caring and compassionate father (v. 2-5). He had a large family, he consecrated his children, offered up sacrifices and had intercessory prayer for them. Lastly, God saw that Job had a consistent walk and prayer life (v. 5). God saw him rise up early in the mornings and heard his prayers.

In closing, the reason God saw the best in Job was before his storm he was chosen. He also was a caring and consistent father. While he was in his storm, he was still chosen, caring and consistent. When he was in the storm, everyone around him could only see the worst in Job. But after the storm, God still saw the best in him while everyone else was gone.

And that’s God’s word for someone today: If you can stand in the rain, if you can weather the storm, if you can just wait it out, God will make everything all right. He will make those around you who were giving you a hard time be gone or witness your public praise party. Now we can praise God before our storm, in our storm and after the storm. God wants you to praise him in advance because of what his son has done on Calvary.

God saw the best in me when everyone else could only see the worst in me! He’s mine and I’m his, and that’s why he saw the best of me!

— The Rev. Lonnie E. Winston is pastor of Cedar Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Brownsville.