In church this past Sunday, the pastor spoke about Job (that’s Job the man… not job as in employment ;-) I came away with some good insight and a deeper appreciation for the fact that no matter what storms may come our way, God is ALWAYS in control!
For those of you lacking in bible story who’s who…Job was a wealthy man in olden bible days, the richest man in that area. When one day Satan approaches God and begins to exclaim that the only reason Job loved and trusted God was because of all the wealth and good fortune bestowed upon him. So God tells Satan to go ahead and test Job. He allows Satan to take away all of Job’s riches, his children are killed and his animals and servants are destroyed. But Job, in his grief, simply says, “ I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord!”
Now, I don’t know about you, but I would be asking the Lord a lot of questions at that point and would have been too busy asking the Lord WHY??? But not Job. He did not sin by blaming God for this tragedy in his life.
The story goes on… Satan approaches God once more and says that the only reason why Job is not cursing God is because he still has his health. Take away a man’s health and then he will surely curse God. Up until this point God only allowed Satan to remove the things… property and people… that were given to Job. But now the tide shifts and The Lord tells Satan he may go a step further and remove Job’s good health short of killing him. Satan then struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot. The agony so severe that the only relief was in scraping the boils from his flesh with broken shards of pottery (it makes me wince just thinking about that pain). Not only is Job suffering the loss of his children and the shattered ruin of his vast fortune, but now his health is affected. He’s in pain and his suffering is physical as well as mental. Job’s wife approaches him and tells him to curse God and die (I guess her pain and suffering due to the loss of all her children left it’s bitter mark). Job cursed the day he was born, but he never cursed God.
Job is then visited by several of his friends. At first they share his grief and do all the visible acts to express their anguish, like wailing loudly, tearing their clothes and throwing ash or dust over their heads. But the tide quickly changes and even they begin to insinuate that Job must have said or done something to bring this suffering upon himself. Friend number one says Job has sinned and needs to go to God to petition his case. Friend number two says he continues to suffer because he refuses to admit he’s guilty of sin and his suffering will continue until he admits his guilt. Friend number three says Job deserves far worse pain and suffering (with friends like these, who needs enemies). In their eyes Job must have sinned or done something to justify the terrible events that have shattered his life. A fourth man was listening to the conversation and criticizes the three friends by saying Job was a good man but had allowed himself to become proud… and this was why God was punishing him.
The story of Job is 42 chapters long and it’s not until chapter 38 that the Lord approaches Job, in a storm no less, and speaks to him. He doesn’t really give good reason for why all these things have happened, and Job knows nothing of the conversations between God and Satan, but instead challenges Job with questions no human can answer. Job is humbled by what the Lord has said and in the end he did ask for forgiveness and repented for questioning God’s sovereignty and justice. Job repented of his attitude and acknowledged God’s great power and perfect justice.
The Lord also goes on to rebuke Job’s friends… they were quick to judge Job and lay blame at his feet for all his woes when in the end we discover that he did in fact have no sin or cause for suffering. Job then prays over each of them and is able to put aside the anger and feelings of betrayal or hurt from their accusations against him (how many of us are willing to forgive those who hurt and accuse us of wrongdoing when we are innocent??). In the end the Lord restored to Job his wealth and family. He not only restored it… he doubled it! Job had ten more children (seven sons and three daughters… and I love how the bible mentions the fact that these daughters were the most beautiful in all the land) and went on to live a long and prosperous life.
The story of Job is one where our response is often one of WHY??? What was the point of Job’s suffering. Where is the cause and effect that we are taught as young children… if I do something bad I get punished, but if I do good I get a reward. Job was a good man doing right and his entire existence was wiped out in an instant. His wealth, gone… his family, gone. Often it is based on cause and effect. Not only do our actions bring about results, but the actions of the people around us have an impact on our lives as well. This was not one of those times.
God alone is in control of the world and only He understands why the good are allowed to suffer. We need to accept what God allows to happen in our lives and continue to trust Him. In spite of the storms that come our way and the pain and anguish we sometimes experience… God is enough!!
