Suffering: The "In Good Company" Series Job I

Back to the "In Good Company" series, I have leap frogged over a few important people so we can go to the original King of Pain.  For readers who have been here before, it is not unusual for me to do things out of order.  Then again, those of us in pain, can use pain or pain medication as an excuse.  Let's face it, I started with Adam and Eve, who are almost never connected to pain and suffering, and then talked about Noah and his family.  Now I decided to go to the big gun, the man who lost it all and got through to the other side.

Yes, this is the first in our discussion of Job, because when it comes to pain and suffering, it seems like Job is the go to book of the Bible.  The problem I find when I hear this is that most people know very little about the Book of Job.  Most people know that he lost a lot, and something about sitting in ashes, then God said he was okay now, and...the end.  You see, many people who are in pain don't have the time, inclination, or focus to read all the way through the book.  It doesn't help that the Book of Job is 42 chapters long.  When you're looking for answers to your pain and suffering, you want to skip to the end, however with Job, that doesn't work.  That's why I am going to give job more than one look at, and see if we can't pull out some helpful points as we go along.

One thing I want you to know is I did the same thing as many people have done.  I got into pain, and turned to Job.  It was long, I got frustrated, and then I skipped to the end.  Doing it that way, I was able to get, well, NO help!  Why?  Because the Word of God doesn't work that way.  We can memorize certain verses that can help us in times of distress, but we can't just pull out verses we find in the back of a Bible when we think we need them.  The Word is more than that.  It is the whole Word, everything that we find in the Scripture that teaches and prepares us.  Basically, Christians don't use cliff notes for the Bible. So, it is important to read all of Scripture, and we should start to see this as the treasure that this is.  So, with that said, let's start looking at what we can find in Job that will help.

I would like to start with two of the biggest pieces of information that most people overlook when they study Job.  The first thing is how righteous Job was, right up front.  Job, who lived in Uz, was the father of seven sons and three daughters that were all grown.  He was the greatest man of wealth in his day.  Having all that was not what made Job righteous, though.  His sons were in the habit of hosting feasts in their own homes, inviting the other siblings along.  When the time of feasting was done, Job would send for them and have them purified.  As their father, he would rise early in the morning and offer sacrifices to the One, True God.  He did this in case his children had sinned and cursed God in their hearts.  So lesson one: Job did not rely on his own wealth, position, or abilities to consider himself righteous.  In fact, he didn't necessarily see himself as righteous.  His habit of offering up sacrifices and praying for his children never stopped.  Our Scripture tells us that this was his regular custom.  He never gave up on being a father.

The second point, one that we learn within the first chapter is this; God sold Job out!  We learn right off the bat that certain angels are called to come before, and present themselves to the Lord.  Satan was there, as is his job, and talked about walking about the earth.  Satan was probably in his usual mood (sour), and the Lord, without prompting, says, "Have you considered my servant Job?"  God goes on to say how Job fears God and shuns evil, and Satan retorts that it is only because of all the grace the Lord has bestowed on Job that makes him upright.  With some more back and forth, God allows Satan to afflict Job's "holdings", but not to harm the man himself.  Within 12 hours, everything Job held dear, except his wife (we'll deal with her next time), was gone.  Children, homes, animals, and servants are gone.  It is here that we hear Job utter, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away."

This information sets up the rest of the book.  Even when more destruction happens, and it will; even when Job's friends show up and try to make Job out as some kind of deviant or descendant of some horrible sinners, we, the readers, know that Job is an honorable man in the eyes of God.  Right here, before we go any further, we know that Job looses everything he had, and there is no reason that we can humanly understand.  None.  Among all the men on earth, God points Satan right at Job.  A righteous man, a man who prayed to God, who loved his children. who shunned sin, is given up to Satan by God.  What does that say to us?  I believe that it says that our pain, our suffering, has purpose.  Our pain is not tied to our sin, however God does allow our suffering; it is God who is in control.  How do we answer this?  Do we fight this, or do we find out what the Lord is saying to us, or trying to teach us?  Or is He teaching the angels by using us?  Is He teaching Satan?  Does God believe in us, as much as we believe in Him?  We'll ponder this until the next time.