In my annual reading of the bible chronologically from Genesis to Revelation I have come to the book of Job which was written around 400 years after Noah's flood. I remembered I had this book on my shelf by @nancyguthrienashville which is a testimonial type of book so that is my afternoon reading! Hard to believe but first read this 5 years ago!
A Pathway Through Suffering to the Heart of God
"The world tells us to run from suffering, to avoid it at all costs, to cry out to heaven to take it away. Few of us would choose to suffer. Yet when we know that God has allowed suffering into our lives for a purpose, instead of running from it, we can embrace it, and look around for God in it."
Nancy Guthrie speaks to those who are hurting only as one who has hurt deeply herself has the credibility to do. Having lost a daughter and a son to a metabolic disorder, in Holding On to Hope, Nancy provides companionship to those walking through difficulty while also providing wisdom for the journey. With a mixture of gentle encouragement and hard-hitting truth, she invites readers to worship and thank God in the midst of their suffering, to submit to God's plan and purpose, and to trust Him in their darkest days.
By following the footsteps of history's most significant sufferer - Job-Holding On to Hope examines how a person can experience significant pain and loss, struggle and question God and emerge from the experience knowing God in a more intimate and meaningful way.
Taken from Nancy Guthrie's website
Notes taken from the book
Chapter 1 - Loss
Job chapter 1 verses 1 to 12
2 And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
3 His substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the men of the east.
4 And his sons went and feasted in their houses, every one his day; and sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
5 And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
6 Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan came also among them.
7 And the Lord said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
8 And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil?
9 Then Satan answered the Lord, and said, Doth Job fear God for nought?
10 Hast not thou made an hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased in the land.
11 But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
12 And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the Lord.
Job shows us how a person of faith responds when his world falls apart. We know Job was a great man of faith because the writer tells us so in the first verse of the first chapter, describing Job as a man of complete integrity who feared God and stayed away from evil. And later in the same chapter, God himself uses these same words to describe Job.
The introduction to Job shows us that Job was devoted to God. He had impeccable character. He could even be described as God's friend. In fact, when God endeavoured to choose one person he knew would be faithful to him no matter what, he chose Job - with complete confidence. Job must have proved himself faithful over and over for God to have had that kind of confidence in him!
But Satan was skeptical. Satan thought Job was faithful only because Job was supernaturally protected by God and had such a comfortable life and that if his comfortable life were taken away, Job would turn on God. At that point God gave Satan permission to hurt Job. He gave not only the permission but the parameters for Job's suffering.
"All right, you may test him" the Lord said to Satan, "do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don't harm him physically." (Job 1 verse 12).
Job's story is about much more than his suffering. Somehow, along the way, he discovered God in a way he had never known him before. And when his story comes to a close the Lord "blessed Job in the second half of his life even more than in the beginning ... he died an old man who had lived a long, good life." (Job 42 verses 12 and 17)
Chapter 2 - Tears
Job chapter 1 verses 13 to 20
13 And there was a day when his sons and his daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
14 And there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them:
15 And the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away; yea, they have slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
16 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep, and the servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
17 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made out three bands, and fell upon the camels, and have carried them away, yea, and slain the servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
18 While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, Thy sons and thy daughters were eating and drinking wine in their eldest brother's house:
19 And, behold, there came a great wind from the wilderness, and smote the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young men, and they are dead; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
Out of the deepest kind of agony and pain from loss, Job openly mourned. He didn't cover up his sadness or put on a happy face or offer religious sounding cliches. He tore his robe and shaved his head. He hurt. And he was not ashamed to show how deeply he hurt.
Chapter 3 - Worship
Job chapter 1 verse 20
20 Then Job arose, and rent his mantle, and shaved his head, and fell down upon the ground, and worshipped,
There was more to Job's initial response to his loss than just mourning and agony. As Job responded to calamity in his life, he fell to the ground before God in worship. Only a person who understood the greatness of God could have worshipped at such a time. This was, perhaps the first of many times over the coming months and years that Job chose to do what was right rather than to focus completely on his feelings.
Even though Job felt crushed, perhaps even betrayed, he did what he knew was right - he worshipped almighty God. He obviously knew how to worship. he didn't have to go to a temple. His faith was so genuine and permeated his life so completely that he recognized he could worship God right where he was, just as he was. For Job, worship was a way of life.
Often worship is a matter of obedience. We worship because God is worthy, not necessarily because we "feel" like it. In the midst of a crisis, if we only do what we feel like doing, we could remain stuck in a cycle of self-pity. But when we worship we get our eyes off of ourselves and our sorrow or problems. We focus them on God and this puts our difficulties into proper perspective.
Genuine worship is when the words that flow out of our lips and the works that flow out of our lives glorify God and honour him for who he is and what he has done. We worship when we reflect his glory - his character and likeness - to others in the way we live.
Surely our worship in the midst of pain and sorrow is particularly precious to God - because it costs us to much. Worship is not made easier, but it becomes all the more meaningful when offered from a heart that is hurting.
Worship during these times can be some of the most meaningful worship we ever experience. Perhaps we are more fully equipped to worship than ever before because we are acutely aware of our desperate need for God and our own incapacitating weakness. We have our helplessness and inadequacy in proper perspective to God's power and sufficiency
Chapter 4 - Gratitude
Job chapter 1 verse 21 And he said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.
As Job fell to the ground to worship God, even though he had just lost everything, Job was thanking God for everything God had given him. When Job said "The Lord gave me everything I had and the Lord has taken it away" we see that Job recognized that everything he had was a gift from God and that Job had learned how to hold on to those gifts loosely. Evidently Job, long before, had figured out that his extreme wealth and blessing, not only came from God but also were still God's, while Job himself was just a steward.
God gives and God takes away. But let's be honest: we just want him to give, don't we? And we certainly don't want him to take away the things or the people we love.
When you come to the place where you recognize that everything you have and everyone you love is a gift, it becomes possible to enjoy those gifts - not with an attitude of greed but with one of gratitude. You and I, like Job, know that God gives and God takes away. And when he takes away, if we're able to focus on the joy of what was given, if only for a time, we take another step down the pathway toward the heart of God.
Chapter 5 - Blame
Job chapter 1 verse 22 In all this Job sinned not, nor charged God foolishly.
The someone we most often hold responsible for the suffering in our lives is God.
Blaming God. We might not say we blame God outright but we become bitter without seeing that bitterness is ultimately blaming God for the circumstances of our lives.
When trouble comes, we think "I don't deserve this!" But wait. What would your life be like if you did get what you really deserve? Were it not for the grace of God, for his mercy, what would your life be like?
Evidently, Job did not have the mind-set that he "deserved" his comfortable, blessed life. Amazingly we see that Job did not blame God for taking away everything and everyone he loved so dearly. Somehow Job avoided blaming God for his devastating circumstances.
The first thing we need is a clear understanding of where the blame belongs.
Much of the evil that happens in this world, in your world and in my world, is the natural consequence of humanity's sinfulness. Don't blame God, blame sin. Blame Adam.
When Adam sinned, sin entered the entire human race. Adam's sin brought death, so death spread to everyone, for everyone sinned. Romans 5 verse 12
Against its will, everything on earth was subjected to God's curse. All creation anticipates the day when it will join God's children in glorious freedom from death and decay. Romans 8 verses 20 and 21
Death, disease, destruction - these are all the result of living in a world where sin has taken root and corrupted everything. It is this curse of sin that required Jesus to become flesh and to die. He died to overcome the curse of sin - not only in our individual lives but in all of creation. In fact, because of his sufficient sacrifice the day is coming when we will be set free from this curse.
And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. ... And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away. ... And there shall be no more curse: but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it; and his servants shall serve him: Revelation 21 verses 1, 3 and 4; 22 verse 3
For now, we still live in a world that is under a curse. And, unless we follow Job's example, it's easy to blame God. The key to Job's ability to keep from blaming God is in the first line of his story which says that Job "feared God."
To fear God goes beyond simply being afraid of God. It is profound sense of reverential awe toward God. But it is much more than that. The fear of God is better described that defined. It is displayed in a person's character and conduct. A person who fears God recognizes God's authority over every area of his life. He has a desire to obey God's clear commands in scripture. He recognizes his complete dependence upon God for everything he has and everything he is. He approaches every aspect of life with an aim to glorify God. And when life deals him a blow, his fear of God is revealed more completely.
In Exodus 20 verse 20 we read of Moses telling God's people, "Don't be afraid ... for God has come in this way to show you his awesome power. Form now on, let your fear of him keep you from sinning!" Moses makes it clear that there is a difference between being afraid of God and fearing God. Simply being afraid of God leads to distrust and disobedience, but the fear of God keeps us from a life marked by sin.
In the seeming unfairness of losing someone or something we love, fellow believers sometimes encourage us to express our anger toward God freely. And certainly God can handle our honest emotions. But the fear of God holds our tongue when we want to accuse God of wrongdoing; it halts our defiant finger-wagging; it humbles us in the midst of our self-righteous anger.
The bible says that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 9 verse 10). The starting place to understanding the bigger picture is to develop a healthy fear of God.
If you want to fear God, you need to know him. Knowing him requires a consistent, comprehensive study of God's word. As we regularly encounter God in his word and as the Holy Spirit works it into our lives, we see God's majesty and power, his holiness and wisdom and his love expressed in his grace and mercy to us. We come to admire his attributes and stand amazed at his love. And even when undeserved suffering threatens to crush us, we are able to avoid the sin of cursing and blaming God.
Chapter 6 - Suffering
Job 2 verses 3 to 10 "And the Lord said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil? and still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou movedst me against him, to destroy him without cause. And Satan answered the Lord, and said, Skin for skin, yea, all that a man hath will he give for his life. But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face. And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life. So went Satan forth from the presence of the Lord, and smote Job with sore boils from the sole of his foot unto his crown. And he took him a potsherd to scrape himself withal; and he sat down among the ashes. Then said his wife unto him, Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.
Job wasn't looking for suffering and yet it didn't seem to catch him off guard. Just when his wife wanted him to completely give up on life and give up on God because of his suffering, Job said to her "Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?"
Job's acceptance and even expectation of both good and bad things from God is in sharp contrast to our expectations today, which is why we have such a hard time responding to suffering in a godly way like Job did. We ahve an unspoken expectation that a good God will bring only what we consider to be good things into our lives. We never expect him to allow and perhaps even bring difficulty into our lives. But he does.
In the back of our minds we somehow think that because Job was so godly, he should have been spared from pain. But the truth is, often people who follow God suffer - not less but more. Have you ever noticed that people who suffer are marked with a beauty, a deepening, a transformation? This only occurs, however, when they enter the suffering and look around for God in the midst of it. Otherwise, they are marked with bitterness and emptiness.
"But" you say, "God does not willingly afflict his children." That's true.
For the Lord will not cast off for ever: But though he cause grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitude of his mercies. For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of men. Lamentations 3 verses 31 to 33
This means - no meaningless suffering for God's children. If God has allowed suffering into your life, it is for a purpose. A good purpose. A holy purpose.
The world tells us to run from suffering, to avoid it at all costs to cry out to heaven to take it away. Few of us would choose to suffer. Yet when we know that God has allowed suffering into our lives for a purpose, we can embrace it instead of running from it and we can seek God in the midst of suffering. Accepting suffering drives us deeper in our devotion.
"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it. For what is a man advantaged, if he gain the whole world and lose himself, or be cast away?" Luke 9 verses 23 to 25
Jesus is suggesting that we do more than simply endure suffering. He's inviting us to stop feeling sorry for ourselves and focus instead on learning from suffering. Not only does Jesus invite us to embrace suffering, but he also shows us what that looks like. According to Hebrews 5 verses 7 to 9 "During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death and he was heard because of his reverent submission. Although he was a son, he learned obedience from what he suffered and once made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation for all who obey him."
Sometimes God's plan including suffering and death. Amazingly, his plan to redeem the world and to make a way for you and me to spend eternity with him included the suffering and death of his own Son. It helps to know that Jesus wrestled with that plan even as he submitted to it.
The prophet Isaiah wrote "Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he has put him to grief" (Isaiah 53 verse 10). it pleased the Father? How can that be?
The answer is that God was pleased by what Jesus' death accomplished for you and me. He was pleased to demonstrate his love for the human race through such a significant sacrifice.
Amazingly, history's most evil act brought about the greatest good of all time. Thought those who put Jesu son the cross meant to do evil against him, God used if to good, in order to bring many to himself.
The Cross, then, is the ultimate example of God's ability to work all things together for good - even the most wicked deed Darkness ever conceived.
Surely if God would require such intense suffering of his own Son, whom he loved, to accomplish holy purpose, he has a purpose for your pain and for my pain. And perhaps part of that purpose is to learn obedience from what we suffer.
The ultimate purpose is to mold you into a person who thinks and acts and looks like Christ.
Sometimes it requires pain to refine our character and to remove our selfish, sinful attitudes. Pain can do that. Or pain can make us bitter. We can just become bitter when we don't get what we want out of life.
"My brethren, count it all joy, when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this that the trying of your faith worketh patience. But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing." James 1 verses 2 to 4
Chapter 7 - Despair
"After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day. And Job spake and said, Let the day perish wherein I was born and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived. Let that day be darkness; let not God regard it from above, neither let the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it; let a cloud dwell upon it; let the blackness of the day terrify it. As for that night, let darkness seize upon it; let it not be joined unto the days of the year, let it not come into the number of the months. Lo, let that night be solitary, let no joyful voice come therein.
Why died I not from the womb? why did I not give up the ghost when I cam out of the belly? Why did the knees prevent me? or why the breasts that I should suck? For now should I have lain still and been quiet, I should have slept; then had I been at rest,
For my sighing cometh before I eat, and my roarings are poured out like the waters. For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me. I was not in safety, neither had I rest, neither was I quiet; yet trouble came." Job 3 verses 1 - 7, 11 - 13, 24 - 26
Sorrow upon sorrow. Difficulty and more difficulty. For many it is not just painful experience or circumstance but troubles that seem to multiply. It can seem like a conspiracy meant to destroy us. And we feel beaten down, discouraged. We wonder if the sun is every going to come out again. And despair sets in.
There was Job, in the throes of his grief over losing all of his property and all of his family. And then came the sores. From the soles of his feet to the top of his head - itchy, oozing, infected sores.
Perhaps those boils were the final straw, the final unfairness that plunged him into a deep desperation. He "cursed the day of his birth." That doesn't seem very godly. But this godly man, Job, was honest and he admitted to his discouragement and despair.
We see the real Job here. Up to now he had seemed a little too perfect but now we see that he was hurt. He was angry. He was disappointed. And he was honest about it with God. His complaining to God was bitter. God in return appreciated Job's honesty. At the end of the book God commended Job specifically for his honesty - his honesty about his feelings as well as his honesty about God - while God condemned the self-righteous rantings of Job's friends.
Job was so discouraged he wanted to die:
"Oh that I might have my request; and that God would grant me the thing that I long for! Even that it would please God to destroy me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off." Job 6 verses 8 and 9
Then he adds these interesting words:
"Then should I yet have comfort; yea, I would harden myself in sorrow: let him not spare; for I have not concealed the words of the Holy One." Job 6 verse 10
Job wouldn't take his own life, but he wanted God to take it and God wouldn't. yet even in this place of unspeakable pain, Job found consolation in the fact that he had not denied God's word. He had not turned his back on God.
Sometimes it feels like there is absolutely nothing to ease the pain. People ask what they can do for us, but we know there is nothing they can do to make the hurting go away. In our discouragement we can be tempted to give up on God and stop praying, wondering, What good is it anyway?
Sometimes what God has allowed into our lives is so bitter that we're hurt and angry and don't even want to talk to him about it.
But where does that leave us?
On our own. No resources, no truth to dispel the despair, no hope.
The truth is, there is no comfort to be found away from God; at least, there is no lasting, deep, satisfying comfort. Revenge, ritual, retreat - they don't bring any lasting relief from the pain. Only the truth of God's word, the tenderness of his welcome, the touch of his healing presence bring the kind of comfort we crave. only his promises of purpose in this life and perfection in the life to come offer us any kind real hope to hold on to.
We can find the same consolation Job found in the midst of utter despair. Despite our feelings of discouragement we can hold on to God's promises, hold on to what we know about who he is and how he works. Even though we don't understand, and it is so dark we cannot see to take a step forward, we can choose to hang on, to keep trusting, to keep believing God's word.
"Even the darkness will not be dark to you." Psalm 139 verse 12
Chapter 8 - Why?
"How long wilt thou not depart from me, nor let me alone till I swallow down my spittle? I have sinned; what shall I do unto thee, O thou preserver of men? why hast thou set me as a mark against thee, so that I am a burden to myself? Job 7 verses 19 and 20
Why? Why me? Why this? Why now?
Job asked that question. He struggled and questioned God in a quest to understand the answer to that big question we all have when something bad happens: Why?
When we read Job's story, we see that his friends had all kinds of answers for him, although none of these answers rang true to Job. it wasn't that Job had stopped searching for answers. He just knew that listening to his friends would not get his questions answered. He needed to hear from God himself, so he openly questioned God. What is amazing is that Job could question God so boldly and yet not sin! But that is the case.
God doesn't mind our search for understanding.
Job asked God, "Why?" but it was asked in a spirit of submission to God and with full confidence that God was using the pain in his life for a purpose. Job stood firm with complete confidence that God did have a purpose, and he waited for God to reveal it to him, at least in part.
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him." Job 13 verses 15 and 16
Are you asking God why he has allowed you to suffer so much? There is the answer: "so that the work of God might be displayed in (your) life." Instead of continuing to ask "Why" would you change your question to "For what purpose?"
The purpose in your suffering is to display the glory of God. How do you display the glory of God? You reflect his character. Instead of demanding an answer you decide to trust him, recognizing that your circumstances provide an unparalleled opportunity to glorify God just by your trust in his unseen purpose.
Trusting God when the miracle does not come, when the urgent prayer gets no answer, when there is only darkness - this is the kind of faith God values perhaps most of all. This is the kind of faith that can be developed and displayed only in the midst of difficult circumstances. This is the kind of faith that cannot be shaken because it is the result of having been shaken.
Though his world had been shaken, we see that Job was still firm in his faith. Right in the middle of his "why" questions, Job said
"Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him. He also shall be my salvation: for an hypocrite shall not come before him." Job 19 verses 25 to 27
Somehow Job saw into the distant future and he recognized the only hope you and I have in the midst of the pain of this life - our suffering Saviour. He saw a Redeemer. He saw God in Jesus Christ, who would take the pieces of Job's broken life and make something beautiful out of them.
He recognized that the process of understanding, of answering the question "why?" would not be complete in this lifetime - that only in the lift to come, in the presence of God, would it all become clear. And Job kept walking in the darkness.
"For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4 verses 16 to 18
Chapter 9 - Eternity
"Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me." Job 19 verse 27
When you lose someone you love, heaven becomes much more of a reality, much more than a theological concept or theatrical cliche.
In the midst of his suffering, Job's deepest desire was not just for the suffering to end but for eternity in the presence of God to begin.
We tend to think this life on earth is all there is and we certainly live that way much of the time. God wants to radically alter that perspective. He wants us to live with an eternal perspective, putting life on this earth in its proper place and living in anticipation of an eternity in his presence.
"The righteous perisheth, and no man layeth it to heart: and merciful men are taken away, none considering that the righteous is taken away from the evil to come. He shall enter into peace: they shall rest in their beds, each one walking in his uprightness." Isaiah 57 verses 1 and 2
There is no tragedy in being ushered quickly from this life to the next when that next life is spent in the presence of God. There is nothing to fear. The only real tragedy is a life that ends without hope of eternal life in the presence of God. When a person chooses to reject the free gift of eternal life God has offered through a relationship with his Son, that is a tragedy.
"Let not your heart be troubled; ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you." John 14 verses 1 and 2
Chapter 10 - Comforters
"Now when Job's three friends heard of all this evil that was come upon him, they came every one from his own place: Eliphaz the Temanite, and Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite: for they had made an appointment together to come to mourn with him and to comfort him. And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent every one his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great." Job 2 verses 11 to 13
Throughout the story of Job, we read that he not only had to deal with his suffering but also with the response of all his friends who, in many ways, added to his suffering.
Job's friends pointed fingers, pontificated, probed. But you know what? I think they were doing the best they could. At the beginning we see that they came to him and wept and mourned with him in silence. But then they made their first mistake - they started talking. And they didn't know what they were talking about.
"Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered and said, If we assay to commune with thee, wilt thou be grieved? but who can withhold himself from speaking?" Job 4 verses 1 and 2
When we are plunged into difficult situation, part of the difficulty is dealing with those around us, some of whom try to explain God without knowing what they're talking about.
Eugene Peterson's paraphrase of Job's response to his outspoken friends - "I've had all I can take of your talk. What a bunch of miserable comforters!" Job 16 verses 1 and 2
I wonder how Job was able to get past all the accusations his friends sent his way. It must have helped that God expressed his own anger:
"And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath. Therefore take unto you now seven bullocks and seven rams, and go to my servant Job, and offer up for yourselves a burnt offering; and my servant Job shall pray for you: for him will I accept: lest I deal with you after your folly, in that ye have not spoken of me the thing which is right, like my servant Job. So Eliphaz the Temanite and Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite went, and did according as the Lord commanded them: the Lord also accepted Job. And the Lord turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before." Job 42 verses 7 to 10
Job prayed for his friends and "the Lord accepted Job's prayer". It is curious that God instructed Job to pray for his friends.
If you and I want to be free of the bitterness that estranges us from others and eats away at our own struggle to find joy again, we are going to have to forgive and pray for the friends who have let us down. They might not deserve it. in fact, they probably don't. But then, we don't forgive people because they deserve it; we forgive them because we've been forgiven so much by God and because we want to keep in close relationship with God. And the benefit is that through forgiving, we're set free. When we are able to accept what others have to offer in our time of sorrow, as well as their limitations, we are no longer bound by our expectations or embittered by disappointment in others.
"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ. And whether we be afflicted, it is for your consolation and salvation, which is effectual in the enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer: or whether we be comforted, it is for your consolation and salvation. And our hope of you is stedfast, knowing, that as ye are partakers of the sufferings, so shall ye be also of the consolation." 2 Corinthians 1 verses 4 to 7
Chapter 11 - Mystery
"Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind, and said, Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? Gird up now thy loins like a man; for I will demand of thee and answer thou me. Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it? Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof; When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?" Job 38 verses 1 to 7
Silence. Sometimes what causes us the most pain and confusion is not what God says to us but the fact that in the midst of difficulty he seems to say nothing at all. has God been silent in your life as you have been waiting for answers?
That's how it was for Job. He wanted to hear from God. He wanted to understand why he was suffering. He wanted God to clear his name. "Let the Almighty answer me" he said (Job 31 verse 35).
Finally, after all the questioning and struggle, in a voice from out of a storm, God spoke.
God asked where Job was when God began the work of Creation. What had Job done to call the universe into being, to create his own life, or to make possible the existence of his possessions or his children or his health?
You might expect God to have answered all of those chapters of questions from Job and his friends, who had been waxing eloquent about God and how he works. You might think God would have set the record straight on all the fine points. But that isn't what he did. He answered Job's questions with his own set of questions - 4 chapters of them - basically reminding Job that he was questioning almighty God.
God didn't explain. He didn't reveal his master plan. Instead, he revealed himself, an din the midst of his awesome presence, Job's questions were not answered - they simply disappeared.
"Moreover the Lord answere dJob and said, Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct him? he that reproveth God, let him answer it. Then Job answered the Lord and said, Behold I am vile; what shall I answer thee? I will lay mine hand upon my mouth. Once have I spoken but I will not answer; yea, but I will proceed no further." Job 40 verses 1 to 5
In his response, God did not explain suffering or how to avoid suffering. Suffering is a mystery ... and Job came to respect the mystery. Job came to understand that because he knew who God is, he can accept what God gives - even when he didn't understand it.
God did not choose to reveal everything to Job. He doesn't reveal everything to us, either. And the truth is, he doesn't have to. He is God. He is Creator and we are the created. God does not owe us an explanation.
And what if God had spelled it out? What if he had explained his full plan and purpose for Job's suffering? We tend to think that if we only knew why we were suffering, we would be able to bear it. But would we?
God expands our perspective by giving us a glimpse of his ability to run the universe in contrast to our limited understanding and experience.
Job had no idea that he was a player in a cosmic confrontation. As we read the ancient story, we are privy to the deal made between God and Satan, but Job had no such context for his suffering. He had no idea that his faithfulness in extreme difficulty mattered so much. But it did. Job teaches us that our response to testing matters too. Like Job, we often cannot see the hidden purposes of God. Still, we can determine to be faithful and keep walking toward him in the darkness.
Our task is not to decipher exactly how all of life's pieces fit and what they all mean but to remain faithful and obedient to God, who knows all mysteries. That is the kind of faith that is pleasing to God - a faith that is determined to trust him when he has not answered all the questions, when we have not heard the voice from the whirlwind.
Chapter 12 - Submission
"Then Job answered the Lord, and said, I know that thou canst do everything and that no thought can be withholden from thee. Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me." Job 42 verses 1 to 4
Real faith is revealed more through pursuing God and what he wants than through pursuing what we want?
At the end of Job's story, we begin to catch a glimpse of how God used the pain in Job's life.
After all the crying, after all the questioning, God revealed himself as sovereign over all Creation, and Job recognized God's authority over the universe and God's authority in his life. He came to a place of submission to God's sovereignty.
If we want to find our way to the heart of God on the pathway of suffering, we, too, must submit to the sovereignty of God, saying, in effect, "Yes, sir, you are in charge. I'm yours. You can do anything you want to do."
Jesus himself is the perfect example of submission. In Philippians 2, Paul tells us:
"Your attitude should be the same that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God. He made himself nothing; he took the humble position of a slave and appeared in human form. And in human form he obediently humbled himself even further by dying a criminal's death on a cross." Philippians 2 verses 5 to 8
We often hear people talk about the "victorious Christian life". But isn't the life of a Christian really more about bending the knee, humbling ourselves, and taking up a cross? Jesus said it is.
"If any of you wants to be my follower, you must put aside your selfish ambition, shoulder your cross and follow me." Matthew 16 verse 24
Submission to God's sovereignty means bowing the knee whether or not we understand, whether or not we have it figured out, whether or not we agree. In that submission, we find the strength and grace to keep going. We even find joy in the journey.
Chapter 13 - Intimacy
I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee. Wherefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes ... So the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning: for he had fourteen thousand sheep and six thousand carmels, and a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand she asses. He had also seven sons and three daughters. After this lived Job an hundred and forty years, and saw his sons, and his sons' sons, even four generations. So Job died, being old and full of days." Job 42 verses 5 and 6, 12 and 13, 16 and 17
Job's life as he knew it had ended. His property had been destroyed, his children had died, and he was still covered with scabs. He had been to the depths, craving death, craving answers, craving restoration. his wife and his friends had provided no comfort.
But finally God spoke, and as God revealed himself in the whirlwind, Job realized that even though he had feared and followed God, he hadn't really known God. Through suffering, however God had revealed himself to Job in an unmistakable, intimate way. Job recognized that though he had known much about God before, he now knew God in a new, more meaningful way that would transform the remainder of his life.
When Job said, "I had heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes" he was saying "I know about you, but I only knew you by the book. Now I know you because I've experienced you for myself! This is noit just reading about or hearing about you; now I really know you!"
It is one thing to believe that God is faithful and will supply all your needs - even in the darkest of times. it is another thing to experience it. In the darkest of days, we've experienced a supernatural strength and peace that could only come from God.
But he says that now that the tragedy has come, the fear is gone. Now that he has experienced his greatest fear, and experienced God's supreme faithfulness to us through this difficulty, he no longer fears tragedy in our lives. We know God more fully because we've experienced him more fully through our sorrow.
The apostle Paul also experienced what it was like to go from knowing about God to knowing God. Knowing God, developing an intimate relationship with him, became the focus of his life and gave purpose to his suffering. In his letter to the Philippians Paul wrote:
"Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung that I may win Christ. And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith. That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death; if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead." Philippians 3 verses 8 to 11
Job, like Paul discovered a new place of intimacy with God through his severe suffering. And it is uniquely through suffering that we can find our way to the very heart of God. In fact, there is no other pathway that can take us there.
It is when we are hurting the most that we run to God. We recognize that we are powerless and that he is powerful. We pray and we see him more clearly because we're desperately looking for him.
And in our looking for him, we find him to be more loving and faithful than we've ever seen him before. We discover an intimacy that we have never experienced before, perhaps because we're looking for him so intently. That is always God's purpose: to use whatever means he sees fit to bring us to a closer relationship with him, to create in us a faith that will give us the strength to keep holding on to hope- not a flimsy wishing or a hope that everything will be fixe din this life but genuine biblical hope that one day what is unseen will be seen. This faith is confidence in an eternal future in which God sets everything right.
Was that God's purpose in Job's life, or did he permit all of Job's suffering just to prove to Satan that Job truly did fear God? Was Job a mere pawn in a game between God and Satan?
No. Job's end was better than his beginning and it wasn't because he was more prosperous materially. It wasn't because he had more children. Job was blessed through his brokenness by his restless pursuit of God. He gained a new, more intimate relationship with God that he never could have found without the pain and sorrow.
And God has the same purpose in mind for you and for me if we will look for him.
To truly discover the heart of God, we need only to look up from our circumstances and look to the Cross. It is there, as we gaze upon our suffering Saviour, that we see the Father's heart - a loving Father who "did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all" (Romans 8 verse 32). As we gaze upon the Cross and the enormous suffering it represents on our behalf, we recognize that not only does God understand our suffering, but he chose to suffer so that he might draw us to himself. "Christ also suffered when he died for our sins once for all time. he never sinned, but he died for sinners that he might bring us safely home to God" (1 Peter 3 verse 18).
God wants to bring you to a place where you can say, "I've not only heard of you, I've seen you! I know you." And perhaps he has used pain to bring you to that place.
God wants to use the difficulties in your life not to punish you or to hurt you but to draw you to himself.
