The Misery Of Suffering: When Life Seems Unfair

THE MISERY OF SUFFERING: WHEN LIFE SEEMS UNFAIR --Job 2:1-13

Proposition: God will help us during the misery of suffering when life seems so unfair if we rely on and trust Jesus as our Savior in every experience of life.

Objective: My purpose is to see God’s people realize that God always does the right thing for our good and His glory even experience the misery of suffering.

INTRODUCTION:

Illus: Listen to the story of Chippie the parakeet. "Chippie never saw it coming. One second he was peacefully perched in his cage, sending a song into the air; the next second he was sucked in, washed up, and blown over. His problem began when his owner decided to clean his cage with a vacuum. She had stuck the nozzle in to suck up the seeds and feathers at the bottom of the cage when the nearby telephone rang. Instinctively she turned to pick it up. She had barely said hello when--ssswwwwwpppppp! Chippie got sucked in. She gasped, let the phone drop, and switched off the vacuum. With her heart in her mouth, she unzipped the bag. There was Chippie--alive but stunned--covered with heavy gray dust. She grabbed him and rushed to the bathtub, turned on the faucet full blast, and held Chippie under a torrent of ice-cold water, power washing him clean. Then it dawned on her that Chippie was soaking wet and shivering. So she did what any compassionate pet owner would do: she snatched up the hair dryer and blasted him with hot air. Did Chippie survive? Yes, but he doesn’t sing much anymore. He just sits and stares a lot. It’s not hard to see why. Sucked in, washed up, and blown over! It’s enough to steal the song from any stout heart." Life is like that sometimes. You never see it coming, but life just sucks you up, washes you up and blows you over.

Job is a profile of courage in the face of adversity, because Job did not give up on his character, give in to his pain, and give way to Satan. It is one thing to bear a sudden tragedy. It is quite another to suffer its pain for weeks and months and even years afterward.

Ask Job, “Do you understand why you lost 500 yoke of oxen, 500 donkeys & 3,000 camels that were stolen in enemy raids, 7,000 sheep were struck by lighting & killed, & all 10 of your children by a wind storm (tornado)?” He would have said, “Yes, I know what happened suddenly, but I do not know why it happened.” There are no easy answers to what the sources of adversity are. Again, we know by experience that sin may be the source of our suffering. “Here we go again” with a second round of controversy between God & Satan with the same sequence in chapter 1: heaven’s council, Satan’s appearance, God’s iniquity, Satan’s inquiry, God’s acceptance, Job’s calamity & response. Then Satan attacks Job’s health & a new person comes onto the scene--Job’s wife. We get a glimpse of her character as well as another in-depth look at the character of Satan, God & Job. Then three of his friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite & Zophar the Naamathite, from three different cities, covenant together to meet & comfort their friend. Job struggles & suffers the misery of suffering when outward circumstances seem to be unfair for this man who loved God & worshiped Him. We learn in the book of Job that what Job did when life seemed unfair was to stay true to his character. He remained true to himself, true to form, & true to the end.

Illus: “If God takes you to it, He’ll lead you through it.”

I. THE CHALLENGE: TRIALS WILL CHALLENGE YOUR FAITH (vvs. 1-6) “One who feared God & shunned evil”-- Think of how the angels in heaven praised God as they saw Job remain faithful. Satan does not give up easily, for he returned to God’s throne to accuse Job again.

1. CONFERRING: HERE WE GO AGAIN (vvs. 1-2) “Again there was a day…Satan came”--If Satan had one virtue it is persistence. He intrudes into a meeting of heaven’s council once again & acts as if nothing has happened. The angels are all around God’s throne & Satan among them. One would have expected him to come & confess his malice against Job & his mistake concerning him, to say, I was wrong for attacking one of whom God has spoken well of & to beg for pardon. So, but, instead of that, he comes up with another plan to attack Job. Satan refuses to give up easy.

Illus: Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst; he promises honor & pays with disgrace; he promises pleasure & pays with pain; he promises profit & pays with loss; he promises life & pays with death. (Brooks)