Oh, that
I had one to hear me! Behold, here is my
signature; Let the Almighty answer me!
And the indictment which my adversary has written… Job 31:35
Sometimes there are no answers. My brother has cancer. Many people have loved ones that get cancer
but when it pushes its ugly way into your own life it is even more
devastating. And there are no answers to
the question Why? There are no words that can comfort.
As we saw yesterday, Job knew what it meant to suffer. He had some great friends that told him it
was all his fault that all these bad things were happening to him. No one needs friends like that! For some of us, it is our first instinct to
think that we are at fault when bad things happen. The truth is that there are many random
tragedies that strike lots of random people.
The people that have had their lives devastated by Harvey, Irma, and the
fires that are raging had nothing to do with the ravaging of these storms and
fires. This was all beyond their
control. And the only thing Job did to
bring all this on himself was to be a righteous and God-fearing man. Because of that, he was chosen by Satan to be
made an example.
That’s right, the
suffering in Job’s life was not because of his unrighteousness, but actually
his righteousness. However, in the midst of his suffering,
which was very real and poignant and terrifying, Job did say two things that
were wrong.
Job accuses God of two things:
•
You don't really care for me.
•
Even if you do, you are not able to protect me.
Job was wrong when he
said that God must be an uncaring God and that what had happened to him was
evidence that God was not in control of his universe…that He must not
understand and must not really be kind or care for people because He let these
things happen.
Those are the two charges
that I think every one of us, in the midst of our suffering, raises against
God. We may not do it loudly, but we
whisper it in our subconscious in order to find comfort, "God, do you really understand my sorrow? Do
you really know? Do you really care?" Then, as the temperature gets
hotter, we often say to God, "Are
you really in control at all?"
Job goes on to say that
he wishes he had never been conceived.
Furthermore, he wishes, since he had been conceived, that he had died in
childbirth. But God has granted neither
wish, so he wishes that God would at least take his life in his present
circumstance. Job cries: "Oh, that I had one to hear me…let the Almighty
answer me!" Job 31:35
In the midst of his
suffering Job cries out to God. He raises the question that you and I have
raised repeatedly in the tragedies of our experience. It is the question that
makes us shudder when our children ask it: the question, "Why?" Three times in this book Job
says to God, "Answer me! Tell me! I
want to know why."
It’s because of Job’s
wrong answers that God finally speaks to him beginning in Job chapter 38. Job 38-42 is the longest discourse in the Bible in which
God speaks. Finally, God says he will offer some answers to Job's questions.
Job said to God, "Because I sit here in these ashes,
because my children are only a fond memory, because I have lost everything I
possessed, you must not care for me. But if you do care for me you are
incompetent to provide for me." I
think most of us would feel abandoned by God in this situation. God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind like
that which destroyed his family, but his time, God brings not ruin but
revelation, not tragedy but disclosure.
Tomorrow we will see what God’s answers to Job were.
Scripture to Claim:
I cry out to You for help, but You do
not answer me; I stand up, and You turn Your attention against me. Job 30:28
