God's Sovereignty and Our Suffering

“It is God who has made my heart faint,

And the Almighty who has dismayed me,

But I am not silenced by the darkness,

Nor deep gloom which covers me.” (Job 23:16-17)

Job was a man of God who served and obeyed the Lord, in practice, so God regarded him as a righteous man. God said about him, “There is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, fearing God and turning away from evil.” And yet God gave Satan permission to test Job and his faith. He allowed Satan to have Job’s servants, his livestock, and his children put to death. And later God allowed Satan to smite Job with sore boils from head to foot. And then Job’s friends accused him falsely of sin against God.

Initially Job’s response was this, as recorded in Job 1:21-22; Job 2:10:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

And naked I shall return there.

The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away.

Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

“Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God.” 

“Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” 

Yet, as time went by and Job’s suffering was getting much worse, and his “friends” continued to harass him and accuse him falsely of sinning against God, as the reason for his suffering, Job’s faith began to wane somewhat, and he began to question God and his sovereignty over his life. But at the end of it all, Job repented in dust and ashes that he had declared that which he did not understand, things which he did not know. And then the Lord declared that Job had spoken of him what is truth, but his friends had not.

All in all, Job learned more of God, and he experienced more of God than he had ever before, and he was humbled before God through his suffering. Even though, through his suffering, he did get to a point to where he doubted and he questioned God, he eventually came to his senses and he repented of his doubts and fears, and he trusted in the Lord and in his sovereignty over his life. Again he accepted that God gives and he takes away, and that, in life, we should accept adversity and not just good.

And as we are watching what is happening in the world, and in our individual nations, and as we face the reality of where all this could lead, much or all of it not in our favor, I believe, we must come to that same place as Job initially did, and that he returned to, only minus the doubting of God, hopefully. And we must accept both good and bad, justice and injustice, and times of plenty and times of not having anything or much at all. For this is what is promised to us in the Scriptures in these last days before Jesus returns for his bride.

For Jesus did not promise us that if we followed him with our lives that life would be easy for us and that we would not have to suffer. He promised us the opposite of that, in fact. He said that we would be hated and persecuted as he was hated and persecuted, and that some of us would be falsely accused of wrongdoing, and falsely imprisoned, and falsely put on trial and given mock trials of injustice. And some of us they will put to death for our testimonies for Jesus Christ and for teaching the truth of his gospel.

So, even though suffering is and will be painful, we should not let it shake our faith, which would be Satan’s goal in afflicting us. We should not let it cause us to doubt God and his sovereignty over our lives, for he never promised us a life of ease and comfort. He promised us a life of suffering if we choose to follow him in obedience to his commands in holy living and in us putting sin to death in our lives, by the Spirit. And that is because if we are faithful to him, the world will not like us, and Satan will oppose us.

So we should look at suffering and its purpose in our lives through the eyes of God and his purpose in bringing suffering into our lives. Sometimes it is to get us back on track if we have drifted from our pure devotion to the Lord, and sometimes it is to strengthen us in our walks of faith, and to humble us, and to teach us to rely on God and not on ourselves. I have suffered much in my lifetime, and I am not looking forward to greater suffering, but if God allows it in our lives, I know it is for our good, to make us more like Jesus.

[Matthew 5:10-12; Matthew 10:16-39; Matthew 24:9-14; Luke 6:22-23; Luke 21:12-17; John 15:18-21; John 17:14; Rom 5:3-5; Phil 3:7-11; 1 Pet 1:6-7; 1 Pet 4:12-17; 2 Tim 3:12; 1 Thess 3:1-5; Jas 1:2-4; 2 Co 1:3-11; Heb 12:3-12; 1 Jn 3:13; Revelation 6:9-11; Revelation 7:9-17; Revelation 11:1-3; Revelation 12:17; Revelation 13:1-18; Revelation 14:1-13]

More Precious Than Silver  

Lynn DeShazo

Lord, You are more precious than silver.

Lord, You are more costly than gold.

Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,

And nothing I desire compares to You.

Lord, Your Love is higher than mountains.

Lord, Your Love is deeper than seas.

Lord, Your Love encompasses the nations,

And yet, You live right here inside of me!

Who can weigh the value of knowing You?

Who can judge the worth of who You are?

Who can count the blessings of loving You?

Who can say just how great You are?

Lord, You are more precious than silver.

Lord, You are more costly than gold.

Lord, You are more beautiful than diamonds,

And nothing I desire compares to You.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKmlrlzTHXY 

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God’s Sovereignty and Our Suffering

An Original Work / March 2, 2025 

Christ’s Free Servant, Sue J Love