A Closer Walk
Job suffered mightily. He lost all his children. On that very same day he also lost all his livestock. So he must have done something wrong; or committed some sin right? Yet the Bible tells us exactly the opposite. "There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job, and that man was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil. And seven sons and three daughters were born to him," Job 1:1 NASB. Job did not do anything wrong. Nor did he commit some sin. Yet he suffered. Someone once said that we want life to be like a well run kindergarten; be good and you get a cookie, be bad and you have to sit in the corner. In other words we tend to believe that if we are suffering, we must have done something wrong.
Job's three friends were the same way. Upon hearing about all Job's troubles they came to his side to comfort him. When they arrived they sat with Job for seven days and seven nights with no one uttering a single word. At the end of this seven days and seven nights Job spoke; and in his conversation he cursed the day of his birth. But he did not curse God. Then one of Job's friends spoke, "Remember now, whoever perished being innocent? Or where were the upright destroyed? According to what I have seen, those who plow inequity And those who sow trouble harvest it," Job 4:7-8 NASB. His implied conclusion was that Job surely must have sinned, therefore bringing all this calamity upon himself. If he hadn't sinned he wouldn't be suffering according to the friend.
We sometimes seem to go down that path as well, don't we? If we are suffering or going through trials we must have sinned; or at the very least we must have done something wrong. But again the Bible says that Job "...was blameless, upright, fearing God, and turning away from evil." This quote didn't come from Job's three friends. Nor did it come from Job's wife. This quote came from Almighty God. Further in a later passage the Lord said about Job, “...there is no one like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man fearing God and turning away from evil. And he still holds fast his integrity...” Job 2:3 NASB.
Fast forward and there was another occasion when the question of suffering because of sin came up. Jesus was asked about this by His disciples. “And as He passed by, He saw a man blind from birth. And His disciples asked Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he should be born blind?' Jesus answered, 'It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him,'” John 9:1-3 NASB. Notice please the last part of that passage, “...It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was in order that the works of God might be displayed in him.” So how could a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil, such as Job, experience calamity? Could it be so that the works of God might be displayed in him just like the man born blind?
What about us, you and I? Is it possible that our calamity or trouble or trials or suffering are in order that the works of God might be displayed in us? Why would the Lord choose us, you and I, to display His works? Wouldn't someone else, anyone else, be better suited for that? Job never found out why he experienced his trials. But does Almighty God owe us an explanation of why He does what He does?
How does the story of Job end? “And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job when he prayed for his friends, and the Lord increased all that Job had twofold...And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning...And he had seven sons and three daughters,” Job 40:10, 12 and 13 NASB.
Our story of suffering will also end. Either through treatment, or God's healing hand. By change of situation or circumstance. Or, in the end when all has been said and done, by our Lord calling us home to glory. For earth is not our home. We are merely travelers here. Regardless, we continue to worship and serve our God as best we can. And we continue daily to put one foot in front of the other, and practice loving one another.
“Praise God from whom all blessings flow; Praise Him, all creatures here below; Praise Him above, ye heav'nly host; praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen,” Thomas Ken 1637-1711.