The last several months have been rough—not for me and my life, but for others I know and love. There have been lots of: “Why, Lord?” along the way, as I’ve prayed over various trials and sufferings. I’ve been reading through Romans lately, and found that Paul used questions in the process of teaching and guiding his readers on various topics. I’ll do the same today, as I pray you’ll walk with me through making sense of suffering.
Why do some seem to suffer more than others?
I asked this question of the Lord, as I prayed for a loved one who just seemed to face one more horrible life circumstance. “They’ve already suffered so much, Lord, why now this?”
Maybe you’ve felt that way too. You or someone you know just cannot seem to get a break in life. Some suffer when others seemingly have it easy. They’re both believers. What’s the deal?
Why are our efforts to help backfiring?
This is another question that’s come to mind as well, as I’ve watched a loved one, sincere in their desire to help another, lose out—financially, emotionally, and spiritually. The money went for naught. The help did not change the outcome, and hearts remained closed to the Lord.
I’ve seen this a lot in life. Christ followers generously help, but then the money is abused, lost, or goes without any benefit. You would think that if Christians give with pure motives, God would bless the gift.
Why are there no guarantees that the things Christians commit to will succeed?
This goes for marriages, businesses, churches, and a myriad of other areas where Christians have prayed before engaging, counted the cost, and even felt the call of God. Yes, I know there are successful Christian marriages, businesses, churches, and mission careers, but there are failures that seem to boggle the mind. What do we do with the failures?
Where are you God in these unexplainable trials?
This is the ultimate question when we struggle. “God, are you there?” “Do you see what I’m going through?”
I know, as a Christ follower, that we are given the book of Job for a reason. Maybe the reason it’s considered the earliest of all the books of the Old Testament is because the suffering caused by the Fall would remain a central theme in the life of every person, Christian or not. Job is certainly the book we return to over and over again, when things don’t make sense. For some reason, we don’t get the message the first-time round. Thus, here we go again. Or, here I go again (I won’t put that on you, today).
I have one of two options when these questions become overwhelming. I can do as Job’s wife suggested and just curse God and die, or I can choose the response of Job.
“Should we accept only good from God and not adversity?” (Job 2:10 CSB)
Mourn and worship.
Prior to this short conversation with his wife, Job tore his robe and shaved his head. These are signs of mourning. He’d lost his children and wealth—basically, everything. He had good reason to mourn. But then, after performing this physical act as a reflection of the pain he felt, the Bible tells us he did something else.
He fell to the ground and worshiped, saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will leave this life. The Lord gives, and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.”
Throughout all this Job did not sin or blame God for anything. (Job 1:20b-22)
Knowing his final destination, Job could still praise God. This is such a good reminder to us that it’s not about what we build in this life but how we live that’s important. I can take nothing with me into the next life. While we are called, as Christ followers, to sow seeds for the Kingdom, we have nothing that we take with us. All the time and energy I pour into my children does not guarantee their eternal destiny or earthly security. I have no control over that other than to be a good steward of them for the time he’s granted me as their parent.
Job recognized that lack of control in the loss of his own children. He did not blame their deaths on God. We know the backstory that he did not. God allowed Satan to wreak his havoc in a test of Job’s faith. Would it have changed Job’s reaction, if he knew that? I don’t think so.
Sitting in the pain and in the questions.
When Job’s response did not get what Satan wanted, he went back to God and asked to turn the screws a bit tighter. God put a limit on this, and Satan had to be satisfied by inflicting Job with painful sores all over his body.
It was while sitting and scraping at his sores, Job’s wife shared her piece of bad advice. Again, as we know, Job did not sin by cursing God. He accepted even this added trial as something under the sovereignty of God and remained in his mournful condition.
We know that Job had some friends who showed up to commiserate with him. Before they began to share their opinions, Job asks questions. Yes, just as I have above, God’s not afraid of our questions. The last of which is very telling: “Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” (Job 3:23)
Our efforts to answer questions only God can answer.
The next thirty-plus chapters reveal the futility of trying to answer the questions of why we suffer. Job’s friends do a pretty lousy job at encouraging him in his trial and end up condemning him as the cause for all that’s happened. As unhelpful as they were, do we not often do the same?
Even though I never asked my questions to the people I encountered, I did find myself questioning them. Maybe they did something wrong. Maybe they didn’t count the costs. Maybe they weren’t the best spouse. Maybe, maybe, maybe. I’m no better than Job’s friends.
Ultimately, when we question suffering, we are going all the way back to the original question: “Did God really say?” (Genesis 3:1) And then, we come to God’s reply:
Would you really challenge my justice? Would you declare me guilty to justify yourself? (Job 40:8)
I find it interesting that in chapters forty and forty-one of Job, in which the Lord replies, he never explains the reason behind Job’s suffering. If Job was looking for answers to his questions, he didn’t get them. Instead, he was reminded of who God is—and that was enough for Job.
In reality, he was simply back where he started, but with a deeper humility of heart.
Where God wants us.
It was at this point of repentance and humility that Job realized he didn’t need answers. God didn’t owe him anything. His was to be faithful and obedient and to stay away from sin. As he continued to sit in the ashes and remained covered with sores, Job turned his eyes from himself and prayed for his friends. After a time, God prospers Job again and blesses him with more children. We don’t know how long it was before Job recovered his health and began to see better days, but there is no indication that it happened instantly.
This requires us to have the long view of life and suffering. What we can’t see through today will not last forever. As we remain faithful through the trials, God will bless. What that looks like is different for every person, because God knows what is for our good, our benefit. I’ll leave it to him.
Though the trials of this life can often overwhelm, I will choose to rest in the sovereignty of God. He does not abandon us in our pain and will use it for our good.
Grace and Peace
If you missed the last Wednesday Wisdom, click HERE, or check out these other posts on Proverbs and wisdom: The Bitter and the Sweet, Embrace Suffering, The Response to Suffering, Why Is There So Much Evil?, and A Purpose for Pain.
