Job Questions God
Job 38:4-74 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?
We Ain’t God
These verses sound humbling, and indeed they are. God is telling Job why Job CAN’T understand *why* he lost literally everything in his life (except his wife) and why he has to suffer so.
Comfort
But these verses have been EXTREMELY comforting to me in the last 18 months in particular. Why? Because I do not have to understand WHY I’m going through my great suffering. I do not have to figure out “the lesson.”
I do not have to worry that God is punishing me, I only have to listen for the gentle Voice of the Holy Spirit. I do not have to try to make the suffering stop by my own ingenuity. I only have to do what God says (which is sometimes less than what I expect of myself), trust Him, and if He allows suffering even with that, then He has a good reason for it.
I know God’s character–in a word, PERFECT. Thus, no matter what He says to do, it IS good, even for ME (not just for others’ sake) (Romans 8:28), whatever suffering He is allows has a mighty good reason. This is sure and certain, because it must cost God a lot of pain to see His babies suffer, considering His great compassion, His kindness, gentleness, love. You can literally SEE His character in kittens, stars, rainbows, marital pleasure, soft grass, mighty mountains, gentle breezes, mighty hurricanes. God is not like the Roman gods–selfish and nasty.
Say Yes to Sacrifice
So when God asks me to suffer for a while, why shouldn’t I say yes? Of course, I’ve often said, “Yes, Lord,” with tears streaming down my face. But look what God says: “11 As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” Job got much more back than he originally had, even here on Earth, not to mention he got Heaven. I’m not some saint or anything, I just WANT THAT!!!
