Why me, God…why am I going through this? Have you ever thought, whispered, or screamed that question? Have you ever thought that God was against you personally? At one time or another, everyone does, even people in the Bible. That is not surprising. What is surprising is God’s answer to their questions.
It is strange to start this message by reading from 1 Peter 3:13-17 but let me say this, it is a text that relates to the example that a man who suffered much in the Old Testament gave for us to learn from in times of trouble.
Now I know many of you have heard the story of Job, but hear it again and you might just learn something new or maybe you might have just missed something important that God wanted you to know.
Job loved God, and everything was going great in his life. He had money, land, possessions, and a large, wonderful family. But one day his world fell apart. He lost everything except his life, a bitter wife, and accusing "friends." As you might imagine, Job asked why. Why him? Why now? The book of Job tells this story, and it gives God’s reply. And after God spoke, Job was silent. Job is a book about success, tragedy, marriage, friends, and faith. As you read the book of Job, allow God to begin changing your ideas about suffering. Learn to trust God even when things just don’t make sense or you don’t understand.
God controls all life and history, present and future. He uses even human suffering and misfortune to accomplish His purposes. At times we cannot say such misfortune is divine punishment for personal sin. We have no explanation for it; instead, we have to accept our situation as being under God’s control. Weigh our alternatives prayerfully and reasonably, and act. In time we may discover how God is working even through our afflictions. In the midst of trouble we can only confess that God is at work in our lives and that we do not understand what is happening. Having passed through suffering, we may find other explanations for this dark side of life. We will at least confess that God is good and what He does cannot ultimately be called evil.
Through history we have been able to read and hear of the many servants of God who have been through some tough times in there lives, but were able to overcome by prayer and faith. There experiences and their ability to overcome suffering is what we as Christians can use in our own personal lives.
We can follow the examples of the many great men and women in the Old Testament such as Ruth, Sara, Deborah and Esther; Joseph, Job, Jeremiah, Hosea and Habakkuk. We can also follow the example of those in the New Testament such as Maria, Joseph, The Disciples and Apostles and the one and only Jesus Christ. There are also those in past times that we can take their experiences and learn from them such as Martin Luther, John Calvin, Thomas Cranmer, John Wesley, Charles Spurgeon and Jonathan Edwards. There are also those in our days that we can take their experiences and learn much from them such as our spiritual brothers and sisters in Christ and our pastors. All these great women and men of God whether in Bible times, in past times or in our present time were all able to persevere and endure in the faith and rely on God’s provision and grace.
Suffering refers to negative experiences that Christians interpret as evil, but that is not always the case. Suffering may not always be evil. Suffering can come because we sin against God or because our faith may be tested. God is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in the world, but His actions and reasons are justifiable and righteous in every way. God allows Satan to cause some evil and suffering, but Satan is not equal to God in power nor authority, in nothing. God allows human beings to misuse their freedom causing some evil and suffering.
The physical world is good as created by God, but disturbances in nature can produce human suffering. It goes all the way back to the time Adam and Eve sinned against God. Ever since, because of the sinful nature in this evil and perverse world, we have come to suffer.
The Bible distinguishes several types of suffering. When God punishes sinners, suffering is deserved. Some suffering is innocent, a testing of the believer’s faith like in the case of Job. God may allow Satan or human beings to be the direct causes of this type of suffering as in Job’s experience. Jesus suffered vicariously for the sins of others. Not all suffering can be explained as punishment for sin. Sometimes we go through a process in suffering without committing sin. Through this process we are tested. God helps us mature spiritually and the Holy Spirit fulfills His purpose and work in our lives, but only if we allow Him to work in our lives, can this process be completed. We must try to understand the purpose of the suffering that we are going through in our daily lives.
God is compassionate, identifying with human suffering. Like a parent, He grieves over the sinfulness of His children. God responds to suffering with both present and future help. In the present God may eliminate the suffering or provide divine strength and encouragement in the midst of suffering (2 Cor. 12:7-10). In the future God will eliminate suffering for the righteous. Depending on the type of suffering, if the suffering is punishment for sins, the sufferer should repent, but if the sufferer is not in sin then wait on the Lord to renew your strength.
In order to let go of a bad situation that you may be in and let God work, we would have to take the example of the suffering time that Job went through, known to God as a righteous man. Job was unable to understand the situation that he was in, but was able to let go of it and remain faithful to God.
So why do bad things happen to good people? That was Job’s question during his difficult time. Job was a good man who served God in spirit and in truth. The Bible says that the ways of Job were perfect. God said he was a good man (Job 1:8; 2:3). God admired Job’s sincerity, but Satan doubted his sincerity. Satan’s question was "Does Job fear God for nothing?" (Job 1:9). Job had been blessed with an ideal family; seven sons and three daughters (Job 1:2). He was rich in houses, land, servants, possessions, and social standing. He observed all the religious practices, yet he suffered drastically. Outwardly, Job appeared to be righteous and good, but in a meeting of the heavenly council (unattended by Job), Satan accused Job before God of being good only because goodness paid dividends. Indirectly, Satan accused God. He said God gave Job reason to practice religion simply to get material rewards. Satan claimed that God had placed a hedge around Job and had blessed him abundantly.
Satan does the same to us in our days. Satan accuses us before God for serving Him just for material possessions and asks God permission to take it away from us to see if we truly serve Him for who He is and not for what He gives us, but unfortunately a certain percentage of the many Christians of our time give in to Satan’s accusations and live a disastrous life.
The book of Job does not deal abstractly with the problem of evil in the world, instead it deals with a very practical problem: Why am I suffering? The book is about the suffering of one righteous man in the Old Testament. Most of us have occasion to raise Job’s question, but instead of raising the question we should let go of it and let God work in our lives.
Suffering may come suddenly, unexpected and inexplicably to anyone at any time just like it did with Job. Suffering does not necessarily mean God is angry with or separated from the sufferer. Human wisdom is severely limited in its ability to explain the ultimate causes of suffering. God can relieve the distress and calm the fears of the sufferer. The sufferer, in turn, must have faith in God’s goodness and sovereignty (Ro. 8:28). God can transform evil and suffering into good and happiness as He did at the cross in Calvary.
Suffering calls us to renew our dialogue with God. In conversation with Him, we, like Job, can discover His personal presence with us. The joy and comfort of that presence may not silence our pain but it will however, provide our greater need of assurance that He still cares and accepts us even as we suffer. His presence reminds us that our Redeemer lives today even after suffering and dying for us. He understands what we are enduring and gives the ultimate answer: “Resurrection to life beyond pain.” All the suffering, pain and anguish of this life cannot be compared to what we are to receive in the kingdom of God.
Job’s suffering was a test of his faith and love for God. Satan argued that Job was obedient to God only because God allowed him to prosper. Tradition taught that faithfulness to God led to prosperity and wickedness led to suffering. The book of Job argues against making tradition into a dogma which could be used to judge individual cases. God allowed Satan to take away Job’s prosperity through a series of tragic events. God intended to demonstrate and test Job’s faith. It was Job’s faith that was on trial, not his person.
Satan, not God, was the direct cause of Job’s suffering. God, however, remained in control of creation. Without God’s permission, Satan could not have acted. God allows life’s tragedies, but cannot be blamed for doing wrong. Human wisdom can never fully understand God’s reasons, but your faith will accept God’s goodness and love regardless of your circumstances. Job was not aware of the conversation between God and Satan. The messengers attributed the tragedy to God’s action because He was in control of their affairs. Job praised God for who He was, not for what He gave him. Suffering did not destroy Job’s faith, instead it made him stronger.
Each time we suffer we face another test of our faith and love to God. Such suffering may be totally unrelated to our sin and without any reason other than testing. Satan claims every person’s faith has its price. Jesus prayed for Peter’s faith not to fail, because Satan was looking to knock him down, and Peter’s faith had a very high price (Luke 22:31) and remember, Peter was the one who failed not his faith.
Job’s wife finally gave in, but Job did not. His wife even presented a different type of test. Loyalty to and desire to please loved one’s may tempt us to disobey or forsake God. Job shows we can overcome Satan’s accusations and maintain our trust in God no matter how much we suffer. Job’s friends comforted him by their physical presence and identification with his troubles. Their silence was more comforting than their later speeches. Words could not answer the questions Job faced, but only God’s love could.
Christians can express compassion and comfort to suffering people. Compassion is identification with the sufferer. Comfort includes anything that will help strengthen the sufferer, such as prayer and humanitarian support. Christians should be humble in relation to suffering, because human knowledge is limited in this life. Comforting a person in their time of pain and sorrow symbolizes that love of God.
At one point Job reacted strongly to his suffering, raising the doubts and problems that flooded his soul. He wondered why God let him be born if he had to face such misery. Rest, quietness, and peace became the great desires of life. Grief and suffering also cause us to face such questions. Uttering them among friends is natural and not to be condemned. Admitting our doubts may be necessary as we endure grief and pain.
Job was innocent and faithful to God through out his time of suffering and pain. His suffering was actually a testing of his faith, not a punishment. Our suffering may be punishment for some sin, but it may be a testing of our faith, like Job’s. We must seek to know how our suffering fits into God’s redemptive purpose. As I stated earlier, the traditional view was that suffering was normally a punishment for sin. Job’s friends represent the attempt to explain that all suffering is a direct result of sin. However, Job was the exception, a good man experiencing undeserved suffering. In Job’s case, his suffering was a testing of his faith in God. Sometimes we suffer because we deserve it. But, most of the time we suffer because others sin and mistreat us, or we suffer as part of God’s redemptive purpose.
Isaiah’s servant of chapter 53 represents the deepest truth of an innocent person suffering for the sins of the guilty. Christians can suffer redemptively when their innocent suffering witnesses to the vicarious suffering of Jesus.
In his anguish, Job perceived God as an archer shooting arrows at him. Job was not aware of Satan’s involvement. He endured his pain by complaining to God and asking for death. His basic desire was to remain loyal to God.
When we do not understand circumstances, we need to tell God our feelings while remaining steadfast in our faith. Even when we feel God is after us, we must keep our trust in Him. Searching for the truth is part of enduring pain in faith. In addition, we cannot endure silently. We must consider all the options available to us. Job thought God was punishing him. He faced the reality of his own death honestly.
Part of the agony of innocent suffering is the uncertainty that we are innocent. The humility of the innocent always raises the possibility of guilt that the purpose of suffering could be a testing of faith, but Job did not feel his sins merited this kind of suffering as punishment. Yet, he could not understand why God would pay so much attention to someone as unimportant as himself. He pleaded for God to ignore him or forgive him and let him die in peace.
Amidst testing we must seek to find His purpose and His forgiveness. The human sufferer cannot compete with or win a debate against God. Suffering will not be overcome by intellectual knowledge or by theological debate, or by legalistic, conservative or some liberal teachings. Only the work and the power of the Creator can help us overcome our suffering and the world’s evil, through prayer, obedience to His Word, perseverance and total dependence in His grace, power and might.
Is God’s punishment just? Think about it! Because if it is not, then evil rules over the world. In his frustration and despair, Job complained that he could not prove his innocence and wicked alike. Thus, Job appealed to a mediator above God who would treat God and him as equals and decide the case fairly. The Just God allowed the desperate Job to make such outrageous claims. The New Testament reveals that God sent His son Jesus to be our mediator (1 Timothy 2:5; Hebrews 8:6). He showed that God is more than Just in His judgment.
Can humble acceptance ever be the wrong response to suffering? Zophar, Job’s third friend, used a traditional theological view to say humble repentance was Job’s only course of action. Job, however, did not believe his sin had produced his suffering. Humble repentance would have been a lie for Job, because he did not sin. Honest dialogue with God was the course he chose. To claim suffering is undeserved is not to mock God, nor is it to claim one has not sinned. Zophar’s theological view was not suited to a world in which suffering can test faith rather than punish sin.
Because we are not as wise or as powerful as God, it does not mean we cannot tell God the truth about our deepest feelings. False humility and repentance cannot purchase hope and security. Knowledge and traditional theology may not provide needed answers for people who suffer. Job, the sufferer, knew the correct answers his friends so easily provided. He also felt the contempt they had for him. He needed compassion from persons willing to suffer with him. Right answers without compassion provoked God because theological systems had become man controlled by the hands of humans.
Human wisdom with improper motives cannot defend a just and compassionate God. Sufferers do not appreciate long-winded speeches condemning their conduct. They need encouragement, relief, and comfort from friends. The sufferer wants love, acceptance, and hope, not guilt.
Job knew that ultimately God was responsible for his troubles. The greatest pain came from God’s refusal to respond to Job’s questions and prayers. Still Job faithfully sought an answer from God. No theological or philosophical trickery can avoid the truth that God permits righteous people to suffer when He has the power to prevent it. We must endure suffering and seek God’s purposes in it. We must maintain faith in God even when answers do not come we must learn to let go and let God work in our situation. Job’s wife and friends had been wrong in their understanding of his suffering.
The book of Job challenges the view that all suffering is due to sin. Job’s suffering did not fit that explanation. Instead, Job’s suffering was a testing of his faith. No one explanation fits all cases of suffering. As Job, so we may struggle long and hard to understand or even be able to endure with peace our suffering. Job assures us God will accept our protests and complaints. He knows and understands our situation and has a purpose and direction that far exceeds our ability to understand.
As we endure and trust in Him, we know we will finally experience His presence. We really need nothing more. If God can control the wonders of creation and the powers of the entire world, surely He can take care of one individual’s pains and frustrations. We do not need to try to change God’s ways of doing things. God’s greatest help is making His presence known to us. In His presence, we can humbly endure whatever comes knowing we are His.
