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Most people on this earth know that God is spirit. He is therefore omnipresent and sees every person always and everywhere. Nevertheless, especially in difficult life situations, we ask God the following questions: "God, where were you? Why did this happen? How could you allow this? Why does this happen to ME?"
I, too, cried out these questions to the Lord when I held my lifeless four-year-old son in my arms and my whole world collapsed. I asked myself, "How can my God allow such great suffering? Why didn't He prevent it?" In times of great challenge or severe blows of fate, a person's relationship with God is tested. But how do we attain the true understanding of God that enables us to make the right statements and decisions in difficult times? In the Book of Job, we have a clear contrast between a man of God and his wife, as well as his friends, who judge according to human perspectives.
Job's faithfulness in times of joy
First, we must look at Job as a person. Right at the beginning, we learn about important qualities that distinguished Job. He was pious, upright, God-fearing, and avoided evil (see Job 1:1). The decision to faithfully follow and serve God was the highest priority in his life.
Job understood that as a human being he had human and carnal desires. In order not to jeopardize his discipleship, Job made a covenant with God and always conducted his life honestly and faithfully, fulfilling his actions and all his needs (cf. Job 31:1-16).
Another important aspect describes Job as a husband and father. God blessed Job and his wife with seven sons and three daughters (see Job 1:2). His children were already grown and lived in their own homes, celebrating their own holidays. But Job was aware of his responsibility and concerned for the holiness of his family. Every time they celebrated, it was important to him to pray for them and to sanctify them. The mere fact that they might have sinned was enough for him to take time for prayer and sacrifice, because holiness in one's conduct before God applied not only to him but to his entire family (see Job 1:5).
These biblical passages show us that Job was a committed follower of God even in times of joy. No one could deter him from this path of righteousness, and everything in his life—his personal desires, his family, his business, and his position in society—had to submit to following God.
Even in his suffering, Job did not sin against God, but gave Him the glory.
Job's loyalty in suffering
True discipleship is not only evident in good times, but especially in times of need and suffering. Job had to endure a very harsh and difficult trial in his suffering. One terrible piece of news followed another. The Sabaeans invaded the land and stole all of Job's cattle, donkeys, and teams of horses. Fire from heaven consumed his sheep and servants, and the Chaldeans stole all his camels. After the material loss came an even more terrible piece of news: his children had been buried by a storm beneath his eldest brother's house during a feast.
How would we react to such terrible events in our lives?
Job experienced immense pain, shaved his head, tore his clothes, and worshipped God. Here we see that even suffering in Job's life had to submit to his following God. His life with God led to a correct image and understanding of God.
Job's knowledge of God was based on the following points:
- Everything I have comes from the Lord.
- The Lord is free to decide what he gives me or takes away.
- I am subject to the will of the Most High.
This deep relationship with God, which Job built before his suffering, is especially evident in this statement: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!” (Job 1:21). Even in his suffering, Job did not sin against God and gave Him the glory.
His closest confidante becomes unfaithful to God – yet Job remains faithful.
Job's suffering did not end. After hearing the terrible news, he personally fell ill with a horrible disease, and his entire body was covered in malignant sores.
To the great pain in his heart and body was added a profound loneliness for Job. His wife, with whom he had raised ten children and who was supposed to remain faithful and supportive until death, abandoned him. Instead of standing by him and remaining true to God, she turned away from their shared path and urged him: “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).
How painful these words must have sounded to Job during the most difficult period of his life. Yet even then, Job remained faithful to God and did not listen to his wife. His faith in God stood above his wife—still in first place. He admonished his wife: “Shall we accept good from God, and shall we not accept evil?” (Job 2:10). With this, Job showed her that faithfulness is important in every situation in life, even when things are not going as one would like.
Job understood in his life who God is and who he is as a man.
Job's faithfulness in pain
Job was in such immense pain that his entire worldview was shaken. He even wished he had never been born. During this period of suffering, Job asked himself, “Why did I not die at birth, perish as soon as I emerged from the womb?” (Job 3:11). What meaning could a life so full of suffering and pain possibly have? But even here, Job understands that the sum total of his righteousness does not entitle him to question God or doubt His sovereignty.
God is Lord, and what He does can never be fully understood by human beings. God Himself reveals to Job His greatness, His reach, His power, making it clear that humanity will never be able to comprehend God's actions. God sees all things from a perspective we cannot even imagine. Job recognizes this and submits to God's authority.
Job's friends
In his suffering, Job receives a visit from his three friends. Their intention is to comfort Job and express their condolences. However, when they see Job, they are speechless. The terrible sight of Job in his grief is so profound that they cannot speak a word for seven days, only able to sit beside him. Only then do they find the courage to speak to him. Through the words of his friends, we see that God was not a stranger to them and that they certainly believed in God. However, we find a significant difference between their understanding of God and Job's. We read in Job 8:2: “How long will you speak these words? How long will the words of your mouth be like a raging wind?”
The image of God in the eyes of the friends was as follows:
- God sees everything, God is just!
- Punishment is always a consequence of sin.
- Job's children sinned – that is why they are dead.
- Job sinned – that is why he suffers.
The friends made a crucial mistake. They presumed to know God precisely and to be able to describe His actions on this earth. In doing so, they denied God's sovereignty and believed they could describe Him using human logic.
Very often we act in exactly this way in our lives. Based on our logic or our understanding of the Bible, we believe we can almost predict God's decisions. But God, in His sovereignty, will never act as we imagine or consider right, because His ways will never be like our ways.
Job's knowledge of God
Job understood in his life who God is and who he is as a human being. His relationship with God was based on the understanding that God makes no mistakes. This is evident in his statement in Job 19:25-27: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after this skin of mine is destroyed, then, freed from my flesh, I shall see God; yes, I myself shall see him, and my eyes shall behold him, and my heart shall not be a stranger to him. For this my heart longs within me!”
No matter how great the suffering or how profound the misunderstanding may seem from our perspective, what God does is right and has meaning in our lives. Even when governments, doctors, friends, or even family turn away from us, we can know that God always has the final word. Despite all his suffering, Job was aware that in his Redeemer he had the assurance of salvation that nothing in this world could take from him. His greatest love was for his Savior and was always accompanied by a deep longing to see Him and be with Him.
Job's faithfulness to the Lord also paid off. The Lord blessed him and gave him children, possessions, and a long life. After 140 years, Job finally died.
conclusion
God, where are you? We posed this question at the beginning of this article. Very often, people lose their connection to God in their suffering. But we should know that God is especially close to us in suffering.
Very often, we humans make the exact same mistake as Job's friends. We try to explain and understand God. Suffering doesn't fit into our image of God. God loves us and only wants good for us. That's absolutely true. God only has good things in mind for us and only does good for us. In our limited perspective, the current situation may seem bad for us, but in God's overall picture, it's the right and best thing that had to happen to you and me. It was His will, and His will is best for our lives.
Therefore, let us trust God, thank Him for His guidance and follow Him trustingly, love Him and wait with longing for eternity, in which we will see God's glory.
Jakob Vasilyev
Municipality of Cloppenburg