Job 38:1-42:17

They say the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I believe it.

Anyway, I will go ahead and give a wrap-up to Job, and we'll move into Exodus tomorrow. I'm having a busy week, so please bear with me.

God shows up out of the great storm, and he basically gets angry with Job for presuming that he knew better than God what was just, right and fair. God runs the laundry list of the thing He has done, and asks Job if he has the power to do these things. The point is that God is reminding Job in the midst of all this that Job is not God, and he does not have the power or the knowledge of God. God alone knows the fullness of his purposes, and humankind is unable to understand these things fully.

This Job realizes when he says, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know." Job, upon encountering God's divine presence, recognizes that when he questioned God's justice, he was questioning that which he did not know. And so he repents. With that, we find that God's testing of Job ended, and he received back twice what he had before.

Now I've noticed over the past few days that if you search the internet about this book, there are a ton of people who are angry about this story, who feel for Job, and have left the Christian faith altogether because they cannot understand why a loving God would do this to Job. And there is a part of me that does wonder, in the face of suffering, what God is really up to in all this. I don't understand, and God certainly doesn't look to good in the beginning of this story, wagering a bet with the Satan over Job's allegiance.

I discussed this topic the other night with my youth group, and I will say the same thing that I said to them. When it comes to the question of human suffering, and why God allows it to happen, my answer is, "I don't really know - except to say that this is the way life is. " Although we see these strange scenes at the beginning, I really can't say for sure in every situation that I know exactly what God is doing. But what I do know is that we can learn a few things from Job's story:

1) Job never cursed God - i.e. Job never rejected God. Sure Job was mad at God, sure Job accused God of wrongdoing, sure Job wanted to talk it out with God. But Job never denied God's existence, and He never rejected God.

2) God never really left or ignored Job - although Job was inflicted by Satan with all kinds of problems, God still shows up to have a chat with him. And in the end, after Job realizes the lack of wisdom he displayed in all his complaints against God, that in the end God knows what he's doing. (Although some assert that he says this only because God forced him into it, I think that if Job were really unconvinced by God, I don't think he'd have kept serving God after some time).

And a few Christian thoughts from outside the book:

1) Not all suffering is meaningless: often God uses it to strengthen us and enable us to grow. That may sound strange, but that seems to be, in part at least, what is happening here. (James 1, Romans 8)

2) God is not unfamiliar with suffering - Jesus as God in human flesh, endured the whole spectrum of human suffering. The author of Hebrews tells us that because he became like us, Jesus can sympathize with us in our weakness. Not only that, but he provides His Holy Spirit to comfort us in our trials.

3) It is in God's nature to turn the bad into good - the promise Paul makes in Romans 8:28 is that God works for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. Further, if God is for us, who could be against us. The point is that whether or not we understand what God is really doing behind the scenes of history, we do understand that there is nothing we face that God will not finally turn into good. That's kinda what happens to Job (except he doesn't get back the sons and daughters who were killed.

I'm not sure that I'm making coherent sense anymore, so it's time for bed. This may not be a complete thought on the matter, but I think it will have to suffice for now. Good night!

In Christ,
Pastor Nathan