Job

The commentary books are now caught up with my current spot in blogging, so now I should be able to go back to writing in order and not popping in with notes adding to previous posts.

And now for Job:

The lesson of Job seems to be that you may never know the reason for your suffering; but you must trust in God anyway, which is the only way to get through the suffering.

In the book of Job, Satan tries to prove that Job only serves the Lord because of what Job gets out of the relationship and that if he had to actually suffer, he would give up on God. God allows Job's suffering in order to prove that a righteous man's character could have spiritual endurance and that his relationship with God would not prove to be a sham.

Sadly, I know many people that fall into the category Satan is thinking Job will be in. People who seemed to have faith, but the moment they faced suffering, they gave up on God all together. This is incredibly sad to me and I pray that these individuals will turn back to the Lord, as He never promised us we would not suffer, but He did promise that He would be there to help us through the suffering. I believe suffering is so much worse when we do not have God to help us get through it. It hurts me to see these people blame the Lord for natural occurrences in life; earthly life that by definition will have suffering, evil, and death in it.

This book brings to mind that age old question that people tend to ask: How can a good God allow suffering?

I don't pretend to have the answers to life here. But, we do know that God did create a perfect world with Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden. Here mankind had a perfect relationship with God, all their needs were met, and there was no suffering. But, they listened to Satan's lies and were convinced to be disobedient to God, despite Him providing them with this perfect world. They became separated from God and now, all humankind are to follow them. Thus, people today are born into a world of suffering.

Thankfully we do have Jesus, God's plan to reunite Himself with mankind. He will be with us through suffering. And, through believing in Him and His paying the price for our sins, we can once again be united with God and have a relationship with Him. With this new relationship with God, we can look forward to an eternal life free from suffering.

The commentary quote that stuck with me is this:

"The major reality of the book is the inscrutable mystery of innocent suffering. God ordains that His children walk in sorrow and pain, sometimes because of sin (Num. 12:10-12),  sometimes for chastening (Heb. 12:5-12), sometimes for strengthening (2 Cor. 12:7-10; 1 Pet. 5:10), and sometimes to give opportunity to reveal His comfort and grace (2 Cor. 1:3-7). But there are times when the compelling issues in the suffering of the saints is unknowable because it is for a heavenly purpose that those on earth can't discern (Exod. 4:11; John 9:1-3)."

God, the creator of all things, all the sands on the beach, is so much bigger than self. I can't expect to reach full understanding in this lifetime, to be able to catch all the quantities of sand with my little bucket of a brain.

Okay, I don't know if that last bit made sense, but it did to me. Sorry. Man, I think I use to be able to write more coherently, and more consistently, but that seems harder now that I have a 3 month old ;)

I guess to sum it up, I'm trying to say that suffering is horrible. We have all felt it. But even through the worst suffering of our lives, we shouldn't let that be an excuse to give up on God. Rather, we should seek God for comfort and guidance during these times. Job continues to believe in God and trust in Him despite life being completely unfair. He questions God and gets to a point where he wishes he was never born, but in the end Job prevails and always believes, and God rewards him for it.

On a related note, I believe Job also teaches us something about helping others in their suffering. Job's friends were at their best when they were just silent listeners who were compassionate and present. This was better serving then when they tried to give advice or lecture. Sometimes we try to insert simple little lines of support or tell them how things have a reason. But often, especially in times of great trial, what a person really needs in the moment is a loving comforter. A silent listener. A friend. Compassion. Healing and reason may come with time, but in the moment we should be Christ to them and just love them.

Well, that's all I have for Job. Sorry I move so slowly, but I do what I can. I will be moving on to Numbers now. I encourage you in your own journey of continued reading and study. Until next time...