Book of Job.
Job asked God over and over again—in anger, in supplication, in frustration, in indignation—"Why?" He was a righteous man, and God delighted in him, and yet the Lord allowed satan to flood Job with every possible suffering any man could hardly swim through, short of dying.
He lost his wife, his children, his loved ones. "Why?"
He lost his ranches, vast lands, all assets. "Why?"
He lost his name and influence. "Why?"
He lost his health and got all imaginable dread diseases: depression, bad breath, anorexia, skin sores, malnutrition, etc. "Why?"
So Job pressed relentlessly for divine vindication, asserting his innocence of wrong, and totally rejecting the common view that suffering is the result of sin.
Having become a pariah in a place where once he held power, he was lengthily and castigated by his moralist fair-weather friends.
Yet, Job never ceased wrestling with God, asking for an audience to present his case. As we know it, that was an unwise request—nobody could prove God wrong. God never makes mistakes.
When Job and his friends had finally out-talked themselves, God spoke. He asked Job question after question about all the mysteries of creation which even the wisest man could never begin to fathom.
God's speech invited Job to simply trust in His divine omniscience and power. And so Job conceded that he can never, ever, understand God's ways. No man can.
God blessed Job twice more than everything Job ever owned. In his "second life," Job was given a new family, new riches, new power, good health, and a long life. God not only forgave Job for wrestling with Him, He blessed Job beyond telling.
It was not a reward for Job's faithfulness, it was a gesture of grace.
The Book of Job ends without an answer to his "Why?"
Why? Because God does not need to explain Himself.
But from Job's direct experience of God's mysteries, he and his friends learned the greatest lesson that I hope to also truly understand as I repeatedly ask "Why?" when I experience pain:
We must love God not because we will be benefited, but because He is who He is—God.
No comments:
Post a Comment