Where Were You?
The struggle with the justice of a sovereign God amidst a broken world littered with pain and suffering.
Suffering is timeless. The world was made perfect, and it remained that way for a whopping two chapters. But ever since the fall of man in Genesis 3, suffering has always existed and always will. The question is: can a just, good God coexist with extensive human suffering in the world that He created?
Job, a “blameless and upright man” in the words of God himself (Job 2:8), suffers unimaginable losses. Job’s friends accuse that he must’ve done something wrong to earn this sort of punishment, and therefore needs to repent. Job insists on his innocence and argues that there must be another reason for his suffering.
Finally, God answers Job with a series of questions about creation in chapter 38. These lyrics summarize it perfectly:
Basically, God is saying to Job “You weren’t there when I formed the earth and created night and day and shut in the ocean. You have no idea what it takes to run the universe. Who are you to question my ways?”
God uses these formidable rhetorical questions to show Job that His power is infinite and His ways are simply incomprehensible by humans.
The LORD in His providence placed the book of Job into my reading at a time only He could orchestrate. I’m on the tail end of an extremely difficult summer. I’m several hours away from my closest friends, local church, and deep community; including 4,000 miles from my girlfriend. There have been some major health complications to some that are extremely close to me. Some shattered plans that I was really looking forward to. A broken home with no immediate family members that are intimately walking with Jesus. A couple of big decisions recently made by close friends and family regarding the future that have weighed heavily. And large amounts of uncertainty about my own future.
The ideology that this is some sort of backlash for sin falsely assumes that our relationship with God is a meritocracy as Paul Tripp puts it; that we achieve favor and blessing (as well as punishment and condemnation) by means of our own performance. This is a works based faith and most definitely not biblical.
The reality is that God’s percipience, righteousness, and justice transcend our notions of fairness. We are confined by human reasoning and He is not. Our perspective has human limitations, and His does not. He is omnipotent (all-powerful), omniscient (all-knowing), and omnipresent (everywhere at all times), and we are not. To think that we would be capable of understanding God’s reasoning for things even if He laid it out for us is blasphemy.
Job’s response to God summarized by Ghost Ship:
“I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me.
Although I had no right to ask,
my God knelt and answered me.”
The truth about suffering is that we can neither control nor understand it. We must maintain the attitude that Paul had regarding it:
I have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ, but also the privilege of suffering for him (Philippians 1:29 NLT).
I rejoice in my suffering, because I know that suffering produces endurance, endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put me to shame (Romans 5:3-5a ESV).
God,
Even though I don’t understand You and Your ways, I trust them fully. The Author and Perfecter of my life, You are working all things together for my good. I thank You for Your promises to bless and keep and for Your infallible Word. I thank You that our relationship is not merit based, because what I’ve earned is separation from You. But instead, I thank You that You have done what the law could not do, by sending Your own Son, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us. You are good, just, and sovereign. I love You, and will praise You from the valley all the same.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
