Sufferings of Job
A summary of the book of Job
Job was a righteous man in
God’s eyes. The Bible says that he was “blameless and upright; he feared God
and shunned evil.” Yet, God permitted Satan to come against Job to test Job’s
faith. In one day Job lost most all his servants, his animals, and all his sons
and daughters. So, Job grieved their loss, then he fell to the ground and
worshiped God. He said:
“Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.”
The Bible then says that, in
all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. But, then God
permitted Satan to attack Job’s body, yet he had to spare Job’s life. So, Satan
afflicted Job with terrible sores from head to foot. His wife tried to get him
to curse God and die. Yet, in all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Then, his friends came to
sympathize with him and to comfort him, though for seven days no one said a
word. Then, Job began to speak, and then he began to complain about his
suffering.
But, Job’s friends were of no
help to him at all. In fact, they believed that Job was suffering because he
had done something wrong. As a result, they repetitively encouraged Job to
admit his wrong, i.e. to repent of his sins, so that he would once again have
God’s blessings. Yet, Job had done nothing wrong. He did nothing to deserve his
suffering. He was a righteous man.
Yet, through his suffering it
revealed that Job had an issue with pride, so God had a conversation with him
about it, to which Job responded by repenting of his sin in dust and ashes (Job
38-42).
God then rebuked Job’s
friends because they did not speak of God what was right, as his servant Job
had. The Lord then had them go to Job to ask him to pray for them to God for
forgiveness. The Lord then accepted Job’s prayer and did not deal with Job’s
friends according to their folly. Then God blessed Job by giving him twice as
much as he had given him before.
God Knows
Job 23:8-12 ESV
“Behold, I go forward, but he is not there, and backward, but I do not perceive him;on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him; he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him.But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.My foot has held fast to his steps; I have kept his way and have not turned aside.I have not departed from the commandment of his lips; I have treasured the words of his mouth more than my portion of food.”
Sometimes, when we are going
through times of great suffering, and we are overwhelmed by it all, we may have
difficulty connecting with God. It is not that God is absent, but that for some
reason we feel disconnected from him.
It may be that we are
grappling to understand it all, and how God could allow this to happen to us. We
may also be dealing with our own misconceptions of who God is and concerning
why bad things seem to happen to good people, or even why those who are evil
seem to live relatively at ease. And, as well, we may have other voices
speaking to us, and condemning us, when clearly we have done no wrong. Or, they
may be assuming that it is our fault that these bad things have come our way.
Truly some people are quick
to condemn or to assign blame, perhaps thinking they are being helpful when
they are not. Or, they may judge us by themselves. They may assume that we are
like them. Because they know what their hearts and attitudes were like in any
given situation, if they think we are in a similar situation as they were, they
may be too quick to assume that we are doing what they did, or that we have the
same attitudes that they had.
If this is where we find
ourselves, it is not wrong to examine our own hearts before God, to inquire of
the Lord if what these people are saying has any truth to it. If the Lord then
assures our hearts, and he does not condemn us, then it is acceptable to state
with confidence that we know we have done no evil. Paul did this frequently, so
he serves as an example for us.
Yet, we must guard against
pride and against denial, too. Pride can sometimes convince us we are innocent
when truly we are guilty, so we have to humble ourselves before the Lord, open
our hearts to him, and be willing to be corrected by him if we have truly done
wrong.
God’s Sovereignty
Job 23:13-17 ESV
“But he is unchangeable, and who can turn him back? What he desires, that he does.For he will complete what he appoints for me, and many such things are in his mind.Therefore I am terrified at his presence; when I consider, I am in dread of him.God has made my heart faint; the Almighty has terrified me;yet I am not silenced because of the darkness, nor because thick darkness covers my face.”
It is clear throughout the
book of Job that these things happened to Job because God allowed them to take
place, and for God’s purposes, and for his glory to be revealed in and through
Job’s life. God proved that he could take his servants through great suffering
and that they could endure the test, and that through their suffering they could
grow in their faith and come out stronger than they were before. Through Job’s
suffering, the Lord purified his heart even more than he had been pure before.
But, it wasn’t just that God
allowed these trials in Job’s life, but that God purposed and planned for this
to take place in Job’s life. God is the one who initiated the conversation with
Satan. God is the one who presented his servant Job to Satan and who told Satan
of Job’s righteous character. And, it was God who handed Job over to Satan to
let him inflict him in order to try his faith. And, it is clear that Job
recognized the hand of God in his suffering and that he knew this came from
God.
How should we respond?
Yet, God maintains absolute
control. Nothing can happen to us but that God allows or causes it to happen
and for his purposes, for his glory, according to his will, and for our
ultimate good. The Bible speaks much of trials and tribulations and sufferings,
that they are intended by God in our lives to strengthen us in our faith, to
mature us in our walks with the Lord, to teach us to rely on God and not on
ourselves, and so that we can comfort others in their suffering, and so we may
share in his holiness, and more.
So, what should our response
be to times of great suffering, difficulties, trials and tests of our faith? We
should go before the throne of grace to find help from him. We should inquire
of God as to what he wants to teach us through our trials. We should confess
any known sins to God, and turn away from them. And, we should ask him to
reveal any hidden sins in our hearts, too, that we might repent of those, as
well. I believe we should also ask specifically if there is anything in our
lives hindering our walks of faith, and then we must be willing to get rid of
all those hindrances.
The Lord may also want to use
our trials in other people’s lives, as they witness how we respond to our troubles,
for God may want to teach them something, too, through our sufferings, like he
did with Job’s friends. In other words, what we go through may not be for us
alone, but God may have much greater and far-reaching purposes for what we go
through than we can possibly imagine.
So, when we have prayed, and
we are clear before our Lord concerning our own hearts, then we need to pray
and ask God what he wants us to do. For one, since God is allowing Satan to
attack us in some way, we need to put on the armor of God with which to fight off
Satan’s evil attacks against us.
This may involve confronting
lies, standing up for truth, and making hard choices in order to make certain
we are combatting Satan’s attempts against us to try to defeat us. And, this
may involve us being hated, rejected, persecuted, strongly opposed, and gossiped
about, etc., in return. Yet, we must do what is right in God’s eyes, even if
humans desert us or mistreat us. For God has a plan and a purpose for it all.
Then we must rest in him, trusting
him to accomplish his purposes through it all for his glory. And, we must rely
on his strength, power and wisdom, keep listening for God’s direction, and then
just follow in his footsteps.
It Is Well with My Soul
H. G. Spafford / P. P. Bliss
When peace, like a river, attendeth my
way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to
say,
It is well; it is well with my soul.
Though Satan should buffet, though
trials should come,
Let this blest assurance control,
That Christ has regarded my helpless
estate,
And hath shed his own blood for my
soul.
My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious
thought!
My sin, not in part but the whole,
Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it
no more,
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my
soul!
And, Lord, haste the day when my faith
shall be sight,
The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;
The trump shall resound, and the Lord
shall descend,
Even so, it is well with my soul.
It is well with my soul,
It is well; it is well with my soul.
Friday, March 2, 2018, 6:11
a.m. – Thank you, Jesus, for this teaching from Your Word today.
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