The results of the fall of man and creation are indiscriminate. Sin has laid its waste in many ways on this earth through disease, famine, war, injustice, natural disasters, etc. As John Piper says, these things are a sign post of the reality of sin in the world and the world’s need for redemption. I’ve come to learn that at some point before bearing the final signpost - physical death - all of us will carry signposts pointing to the reality of sin in our world. Sometimes things happen to us as a result of our own personal sin. For these there is an explanation and we are ultimately held accountable. But what about those times when a signpost has been given to carry where there is, after careful soul searching and prayer, no conviction or evidence of specific personal sin related to the signpost and no other explanation? I’m not saying there are people who don’t sin - that was Jesus’ ability alone- I’m talking about specific sin that creates specific consequences.
Bad things happen to all manner of people, “good” and bad. The author of Psalm 73 lamented this fact which caused him great struggle and frustration. He wrote, “But as for me, my feet came close to stumbling; My steps had almost slipped” (Ps. 73:2) because of all the ways the wicked seemed to prosper. He began his conclusion with, “When my heart was embittered, and I was pierced within, then I was senseless and ignorant; I was like a beast before Thee.” Have you ever felt like a beast when faced with the things that seem unfair in life? Embittered? Pierced within? Senseless? I’m raising my hand! A good reading of the book of Job will reveal that he felt the same way. But God taught him a valuable lesson that goes something like this: “I am God. You are not. I think I know what I am doing. I am the Sovereign over all the earth. I am trustworthy. Trust Me.”
Job of all people had a right, as we Westerners would think, to protest. He was an upright man. “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.” (Job 1:1) He was a wealthy prosperous, successful man who loved the Lord. Yet disaster struck. Job mourned and wept for his loss. He related with the Psalmist. He sought solace from his friends but they offered him little in the way of comfort or encouragement, mostly accusing him, showing their own lack of understanding of God’s ways and nature and purposes. He petitioned God for an explanation for his suffering. After all, he was an upright man.
“The major reality of the book is the inscrutable mystery of innocent suffering. God ordains that His children walk in suffering and sorrow, sometimes because of sin (Num 12:10-12), sometimes for chastening (Heb 12:5-12), sometimes for strengthening (2 Cor. 1:3-7; 1 Pet 5:10, James 1:2-4) and sometimes to give opportunity to reveal His comfort and grace (2 Cor 1:3-7). But there are times when the compelling issue in the suffering of the saints is unknowable because it is for heavenly purposes that those on earth can’t discern.” * “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.” (Is. 55:8-9) Also, see Ex 4:11, Jn 9:1-3.
God is the one who “rules over a sin-confused world with power and authority directed by perfect wisdom and mercy.” * Job recognized that often good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people. But the things that happen to people “are more than just exceptions to the rule, thus forcing Job (and us) to rethink his simple understanding about God’s sovereign interaction with His people. The type of wisdom Job comes to embrace was not dependent merely on the promise of reward or punishment. The long, peevish disputes between Job and his accusers were attempts to reconcile the perceived inequities of God’s retribution in Job’s experience. Such an empirical method is dangerous. In the end, God offered no explanation to Job, but rather called all parties to a deeper level of trust in the Creator...” * Job doesn’t know why he’s suffered but “[he] simply commits his ordeal with a devout heart of worship and humility to a sovereign and perfectly wise Creator - and that was what God wanted him to learn...” *
“Some truths in Job’s experience:
1. There are matters going on in heaven with God that believers know nothing about; yet they affect our lives.
2. Even the best effort for explaining the issues of life can be useless.
3. God’s people do suffer. Bad things happen all the time to good people, so no one can judge a person’s spirituality by his painful circumstances or her great successes.
4. Even though God seems far away, perseverance in faith is a most noble virtue since God is good and one can safely leave his life in His hands.
5. The believer in the midst of suffering should not abandon God, just draw near to Him, so out of the fellowship can come the comfort - without the explanation.
6. Suffering may be intense, but it will ultimately end for the righteous and God will bless abundantly.
“When Job was finally confronted by the Lord of the universe, he put his hand over his mouth and said nothing. Job’s silent response in no way trivialized the intense pain and loss he had endured. It merely underscored the importance of trusting God’s purposes in the midst of suffering. It, like all other human experiences, is directed by perfect divine wisdom. In the end, the lesson learned was not that one may never know the specific reason for his suffering but, one must trust in Sovereign God whether we know or not.”
The author of Psalm 73, after much wrestling, concludes, “Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever...But as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord my God my refuge, that I may tell of all Thy works. (Ps. 73:25-26, 28) Job, after shaking his fists and God’s marvelous explanation of who He is, says, “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge? Therefore I declare that which I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Hear now, and I will speak; I will ask Thee, and do Thou instruct me. I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear; but now my eye sees Thee” (Job 42:2-5)
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