You know, everything happens for a reason. Even before I was saved, I seemed to have the knowing that nothing in life was a coincidence. I just knew that we encounter experiences in life for a purpose, either to learn an important life lesson, or to grow in some way, but more importantly, to shape us into the person that we need to be to face future circumstances that we currently have no knowledge of.
But once I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour, I encountered an entirely different perspective and understanding of meaning. It was from that point onwards that I understood that not only everything happened for a reason, but there was an all-knowing and loving God who was orchestrating everything in our lives. And I can tell you, that that was a life changing moment.
And I quickly came to realise that we live in a fallen and sinful world. We live in a world where our enemy seems to run rampant. We look at what is happening overseas, and we struggle to comprehend why things happen the way they do. And it leads us to ask the big question that plagues believers and non-believers alike: why do people face trials and pain? Why, in a world where God is sovereign, is there so much suffering around us?
I have worked in aged care for 11 years now. I have seen the long term effects of abuse of various sorts. I have seen the effects of long-term drug use, the effects of emotional and physical abuse in relationships, devastating illness, severe mental health issues where people are tormented continually day and night through psychosis, depression and anxiety.
In my time doing youth work, I have seen the effects of physical and emotional trauma on the young people of today. I have seen the effects of people who have been threatened with their life, of sexual abuse from a young age. As foster carers, my wife and I have had the effects of that living under our own roof.
I have experienced the generational effects of trauma in my own family. My grandparents on my father’s side were an unusual marriage. My grandfather was a Polish soldier and my grandmother was a German lady, they married and migrated to Australia after WWII. My grandmother had to leave her two children behind on the other side of the world. This has had a flow-on effect in my family, and how my parents raised me.
There is so much suffering in the world, and why there is so much suffering is a question that every faith group around the world has tried to answer. For the Buddhists and Hindus, they believe that what goes around comes around, that what we do in life comes back around to affect us, whether it is good or bad. According to their beliefs, whatever wrong-doings we do, we will suffer the consequences either in this life or in the next life through reincarnation. Unless you live an absolutely perfect life from start to finish, they believe you are reincarnated again and again. The problem with this system is that there is no hope, there is no escape from the sufferings and trials of this world.
But we, as believers and followers of the true Lord, Jesus Christ, we have the advantage of knowing different. We know that Christ suffered for us, and we have hope that because of his suffering, we will one day experience a reality where there is no more suffering.
Now I can’t give you an answer as to why we go through trials, pain and suffering in life. I don’t think that we even have the capacity to fully understand why. But when we look at the books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel, we can see the theme of the suffering of Israel.
The prophet Jeremiah knew what it meant to go through suffering. His nation had been taken over by the Babylonians, who sent the people into exile, and tried to eliminate their national identity and culture. The Babylonians even tried to force all under the Babylonian empire to worship idols and commit great sin against our God.
Many times we can feel like we are exiled. We can feel exiled from our family. We can feel exiled from our society. Perhaps it is because of your faith, or maybe some other reason. During the time of Israel’s exile, the Lord gave a word to Jeremiah, who wrote it in a letter of encouragement to the exiles of Babylon. In perhaps one of the most well-known passages from the prophetic books, he wrote:
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ – Jeremiah 29:11.
In one of the worst moments in Israel’s history, our God gave these words of encouragement. We may be going through difficult times in our lives, but we can take peace and comfort in the fact that God loves us and his plans for us are not to harm us, but to prosper us and give us hope and a future.
Now sometimes in life we come across issues that we can’t find the solutions to in the New Testament. In 1 Corinthians 10:11, Paul tells us that the Old Testament events were written as a warning or an example for us, so sometimes to answer some questions in life we need to go back there to find the solutions that we seek.
This morning we will take an example from Job. We read in Chapter 1 that Job lived in the land of Uz. Now I used to think, what an unusual name. I mean, can you imagine living in the land of Uz? But recently I discovered that the name Uz in Hebrew is quite significant. In the Hebrew language, Uz means counsel, contemplation, or regard. That seems significant to our understanding of Job.
Anyway, Job was blameless and upright. He feared the Lord and shunned evil. In Old Testament language, that means he was right with God. It doesn’t mean that he was sinless, but he kept a short account. He was an honest and wise man, and in fearing God it was fear as in trembling, rather it was fear as in respect and reverence.
And he was fairly well off. He had seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred donkeys. How does that sound for the farmers out there?
And Job had seven sons and three daughters. We have here a picture of a man whose life is the very model of faithful obedience to the Lord, and who enjoyed the Lord’s blessings in what he did. And we read in 1:3 that ‘he was the greatest man among all the people of the East.’
I mean, this was a man who would offer sacrifices for himself and for his children, just in case they sinned against God. He would make sacrifices on their behalf out of faith. And we need to keep in mind that this was before the covenant with Moses. This was before animals sacrifices for the atonement of sin was made law. So what we see in Job is a man who full well understood that blood needed to be shed for the forgiveness of sins.
Let’s read from 1:6:
One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, ‘Where have you come from?’ – Job 1:6.
As if God didn’t know.
Satan answered the LORD, ‘From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.’ ‘ Job 1:7.
The name Satan is a Hebrew word that means ‘accuser’ or ‘adversary’. This becomes important to understanding who he is and what his job is. Satan’s role is to accuse us, to deceive us. The enemy comes to kill, steal, and destroy. We will see Satan at work And here we see, not surprisingly, that he was roaming the earth, going back and forth on it.
Then the LORD said to Satan, ‘Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.’ – Job 1:8.
Notice something here. God himself identifies Job as blameless and upright! God sees Job as righteous, honest and wise. This was before the law. This was before Christ died for us on the cross. All through the Old Testament, we can see that it is faith in God that saves us, NOT the law.
Notice Satan’s response to this, which is actually a question and challenge to God:
‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’ Satan replied. ‘Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.’ – Job 1:9-11.
First of all, how powerful must the hedge of protection God put around Job, his household, and everything he has, have been? If God is protecting us, nothing can break down that barrier of protection.
But what Satan is doing here is accusing Job of only being faithful and obedient to God, because of the rewards and blessings that God has given him in return. This is an attack on both Job and God. The challenge Satan puts forward here, is that if you take away the blessings, if you take away everything that Job has, then he will lose faith and curse God. His faith will evaporate. Satan is counting on Job’s faith being more in material matters of this world, and not on God without the consideration of blessings in return. When we come across a passage like this, it gives us the opportunity to pause and reflect on our own faith. Is our faith more in this world and our possessions, or is it entirely on Christ?
The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.’
Then Satan went out from the presence of the LORD. – Job 1:12.
What God says here is the very key of understanding this passage,
When we consider the trials and sufferings of this world, we need to understand something. Have you ever heard people say to you, ‘If God is good, why is there so much suffering in the world?’ Or, ‘Why do bad things happen to good people?’ And how about this one: ‘I will not believe in a God that is so cruel to allow all the suffering in the world.’
Has anyone ever said that to you?
How do you respond to those questions?
One thing we need to understand is that we cannot blame God for the suffering in the world. There are really three factors that we need to consider. A sovereign and all powerful God, who loves us and wants nothing but the best for us. His plans for us are to prosper, and to give us hope and a future. Then there is Satan, whose job is to torment, accuse, steal and kill. And the third factor is our own free will. How do we respond to the challenges and temptations we face in life?
What we see happening in this passage is Satan challenging Job and God. But notice that God is still in control. God tells Satan that everything Job has is in Satan’s power, but don’t lay a finger on Job himself. You can do what you want with his possessions, but don’t touch Job.
We read in the rest of Job 1 how Satan uses the Sabeans and the Chaldeans to steal Job’s livestock and servants and kills them. We read how fire came down from heaven and killed his sheep. We read how a strong wind came and destroyed the house where Job’s children were feasting, killing them all. Notice how the fire came from heaven. Satan made it look like the fire was coming from God. This is part of his deception, and we need to be aware of ways that Satan tries to deceive us.
Now can you image for a moment, that you are living a blessed life, and then in one day, absolutely everything you own, all your possessions, are destroyed, and your entire family are killed?
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. – Job 1:22.
Now to top it off, another day comes where all the angels and Satan present themselves before God. Again, Satan has been roaming the earth, going back and forth. And again, God asks Satan if he has considered Job. He is still blameless and upright. And God says:
‘And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.’
‘Skin for skin!’ Satan replied. ‘A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.’
The LORD said to Satan, ‘Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life.’ – Job 2:3-6.
Again, Satan can do whatever he likes to Job, but the limit of his authority is his body. Satan cannot take Job’s life.
We then read in Job 2 that he is covered from head to toe with sores. It is so bad that, and I’m sorry that this is a bit graphic (but it is the Word of God), that he takes some broken pottery to scrap himself.
Now his wife comes up to him and says, ‘Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!’
She is asking him to give up his faith. She is of the opinion that God has sent this suffering, so why follow an angry God? She thinks that it would be better for him to curse God and die.
Has anyone said that to you? Has anyone looked at what was happening in your life; your trials, your pain, your suffering, and asked you why you still follow God? Has anyone told you that it can’t be of God, so you should turn away from him and curse him?
What was Job’s reply?
‘You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?’
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. - Job 2:10.
What an important question. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble? Job understood something here. God is good. That is undeniable. But if all we receive is good, how does that benefit us?
All those parents our there – if all you gave your children was good, and what they wanted, and everything they asked for, would that develop them into healthy, self-sufficient, independent people? Would that develop a good character?
No. Just as a father doesn’t give their children everything they want, why should we expect anything less from our heavenly Father.
But Job was still down, and yes, he asked why he suffered. This is an absolutely normal human response.
And Job’s ‘friends’ weren’t much help. And a quick question for you? Who is the shortest person in the Bible? It is one of Job’s friends, Bildad the Shuhite.
Job has a conversation with his four friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, Zophar, and later Elihu. And this is far from helpful. Eliphaz tells Job that his suffering is due to his sin, after we read that he was blameless and upright in the eyes of God. Bildad calls Job a windbag. And Zophar was the rudest of all, calling Job’s lament idle talk. Can you imagine having friends that, when you’re down, tell you that you sinned and are being justly punished by God, that you’re a windbag, and that your complaints are just idle talk? Some friends, hey.
Between the four of them, who are meant to be Job’s wise friends and meant to represent the wisdom of the ancient world, we learn that true wisdom and understanding cannot come from each other. True wisdom, as we learn from God’s 30+ questions to Job at the end of the book, can only come from the Lord. Check out some of these questions God asks Job:
‘Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off it’s dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched out a measuring line across it?’ – Job 38:4-5.
‘Does the hawk take flight by your wisdom and spread its wings toward the south?’ – Job 39:26.
‘Would you discredit my justice? Would you condemn me to justify yourself?’ – Job 40:8.
From this account of Job, we learn:
1. First of all, Job had no idea what was happening in heaven, and neither do we. Although there was a conversation and plan made in heaven, all Job ever saw was the pain and suffering as the result. We can only know a fraction of the greater reality of God’s plan for us.
2. God is sovereign and is ultimately in control of everything.
3. It is not about sin. People don’t suffer because of sin. I am reminded of the man in John 9, who was blind from birth. The disciples asked Jesus who sinned, the man or his parents, that he was born blind. Jesus told them that no-one sinned, that his blindness was so that the works of God might be displayed in him.
4. Satan is the accuser, the tormenter, but he cannot do a single thing without permission from our Sovereign God (Job 1:12; 2:6). Therefore, everything that happens to you in life is filtered and allowed by our Sovereign God, and finally
5. True wisdom is of God, not of man.
Now listen to me carefully – God does not create trials and hardship. The true origin of trials and suffering in our world is Satan. God created the world, but it is Satan that brings hardship and suffering into the world. Satan tormented Job in the hope that he would lose faith. Satan torments us in the hope that we will lose faith. As Christians, we must stand firm on our faith on Jesus Christ, and not let the enemy in to try and steal our faith away.
I will remind you of Jeremiah 29:11:
‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.’ – Jeremiah 29:11.
God has no intention to harm you. God loves you, and wants nothing but the very best for you. The entire Bible is about his redemptive plan for you – we remember John 3:16, that he loved the world so much that he gave his only Son, so whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life.
It helps to understand that suffering is at the very heart of the gospel. All though his ministry, Jesus was challenged. He was challenged by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. When he was arrested, he was mocked and beaten. His blood was spilt for us. He wore a crown of thorns on his head. He suffered greatly for us.
And Jesus was the obedient servant of God. He humbled himself by taking on the form of a servant, and was obedient to death on the cross. And at the core of this is our salvation. Jesus died on the cross, was buried, and rose again, to pay the penalty of our sins so that we can be free. Because of the suffering that Christ endured on our behalf, we can live in the very real hope of our resurrection and eternal life.
Jesus suffered for us, and when we suffer, he suffers with us. It can be comforting to know that no matter what we face in life, our Lord Jesus Christ has gone there before you, and is right there with you in your times of trial.
James tells us to:
Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. – James 1:2-4.
Our trials and suffering is there to do a work in us. It gives us an opportunity to prove and grow our faith. If we choose to embrace the trials we face in life, then we can allow it to do a work in us so we can grow further in maturity and wisdom.
Like the man blind from birth. He was blind so that a work of God might be displayed in him. His suffering was so that God could work, so that he could be an example and encouragement for others. It was a testimony that changed the life of those who heard it, and it gave full glory to God.
And Paul writes in Romans:
Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. – Romans 5:3-4.
There is so much growth that we can encounter in our sufferings. If we never faced suffering in life, we would never have the opportunity to produce perseverance. And perseverance through trials and sufferings produces character. And finally, character produces hope. If life was perfect, and we had everything we wanted, and there was no pain of suffering, would we look forward to Christ’s return and our hope for eternal life? No, we would have no need to.
We may never understand why people are abused. We may never understand why people go through pain or suffering. We may never understand why people in developing countries continually struggle with famine, disease, and death. We may never understand why God allows people to be violated. We may never understand why people are beaten. We may never understand why people go through such intense internal torment.
But I do know that there are people here in this congregation who have been through pain. I know that there are people in this congregation who have been through trauma. I know that there are people in this congregation who have witnessed horrendous events in life. And I wish to acknowledge that. I cannot imagine how that must have felt for you, or how you continue to feel about that.
But perhaps we are not able to understand why. Our capacity for wisdom is so limited in comparison to God’s infinite capacity for wisdom.
The ultimate answer to the book of Job is that we currently live in a world were pain and suffering exists. The world we live in right now doesn’t allow for that to stop. For the time being, the sinful and carnal nature of the world is not able to exist without pain and suffering.
But in the middle of Job, in chapter 16, he cried out:
‘Even now my witness is in heaven; my advocate is on high. My intercessor is my friend, as my eyes pour out tears to God; on behalf of a man he pleads with God as one pleads for a friend.’ – Job 16:19-21.
Be encouraged! Jesus Christ is our intercessor. Jesus suffered and died on the cross so that you can be free. He suffered and died on the cross so that we can have the hope of eternal life. He suffered and died on the cross, so he can be our witness in heaven, our advocate. He is our friend. And he is our ultimate hope.
The book of Revelation gives us a glorious image of what we have to look forward to. Because of the finished work of Christ, we can look forward to an eternity of no more suffering, no more pain, no more tears, and no more illness. We will be given new bodies. We will live in full relationship with our God. We are only here in this world for a short time. It is like a blink of an eye in comparison to eternity. All we have to do is endure and persevere through this brief time of suffering, because one day, that will no longer exist.
Amen.
