May 16, 2014 (Friday)
Next in our survey of Bible books we come to the books of poetry: Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon. First, we consider Job, surely known by almost anybody we may ask about it. His name has become proverbial for the idea of human suffering.
Job lost everything: his wealth, his family, his health. He lost it all, and three friends came to sit with him and discuss the situation. Basically, their idea was that Job had sinned, and could be helped only if he repented. Job felt no remorse for sin, declared himself innocent, and debated with God about the fairness of his treatment. God persuaded Job to acknowledge the awesome universal power of God, and to admit his own smallness in the grand order of things. Job humbled himself. The great question of why the righteous suffer is never answered in the book. In the end Job’s position, wealth and health are restored, but readers are well aware that in real life today many people continue to suffer and know of no reason why it is so. While not giving a definitive explanation of human suffering, the Book of Job gives us much to think about.
Job – A devotional thought
Today’s sufferer may not have answers to his questions about his plight, but the Christian may discover that even though God may never reveal the “why” of suffering, he will help His child discover the “how” of it. Life becomes a process of learning to walk in the steps of Jesus, who suffered on the cross, physically and spiritually, as he took upon himself our guilt, bore our grief and carried our sorrows.