1 Mystery: An Invisible God in Visible Suffering 1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. 2 He had seven sons and three daughters, 3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East. 4 His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. 5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts. This was Job s regular custom. 6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. 7 The Lord said to Satan, Where have you come from? Satan answered the Lord, From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it. 8 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. 1
2 9 Does Job fear God for nothing? Satan replied. 10 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. 11 But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. 12 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. One day when Job s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother s house... The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked. The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They 2
3 put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother s house...when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you! At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Naked I came from my mother s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised. In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. Job 1:22 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes. Job 2:7-8 3
4 The Mystery of Why? Why is our greatest struggle. Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, You must be born again. The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit. John 3:5-8 In Job Chapter 38, God confronted Job after his questioning---arising from a storm He told him: Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? 3 Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 4 Where were you when I laid the earth s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. 5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? 6 On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone 7 while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?... Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? 4
5 --- 17 Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? 18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this. Job 38:1-7, 16-18 Who are we to know. To ask. To seek to supplant the mystery of God s method and will with our own? Who are we to ask why? The Gospel According to Suffering. Even in our darkest hours, when we are so focused on our misery, our terrible circumstances----our pathway to the mind and will of God is to empty ourselves of our agenda and embrace His. Mary: I am the Lord s servant, Mary answered. May your word to me be fulfilled. Luke 1:38 " Jesus: Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done. Luke 22:42 5
6 I am certain that I never did grow in grace one-half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain. Charles Spurgeon Those who believe that they believe in God, but without passion in their hearts, without anguish in mind, without uncertainty, without doubt, without an element of despair even in their consolation, believe only in the God idea, not God Himself. Miquel De Unamuno Our task is not to decipher exactly how all of life's pieces fit and what they all mean but to remain faithful and obedient to God, who knows all mysteries. That is the kind of faith that is pleasing to God-a faith that is determined to trust him when he has not answered all the questions, when we have not heard the voice from the whirlwind. Nancy Guthrie We out so much into pursuing God for healing. With great boldness and passion and persistence, we cry out to God, begging for physical healing. And in these prayers, there is often a tiny P.S. added at the end where we say, "If it be your will." But shouldn't we switch that around? Shouldn't we cry out to God with boldness and passion and persistence in a prayer that says, "God, would you 6
7 please accomplish your will? Would you give me a willing heart to embrace your plan and your purpose? Would you mold me into a vessel that you can use to accomplish what you have in mind?" And then, perhaps, we could add a tiny P.S. that says, "If that includes healing, we will be grateful." Nancy Guthrie Our healing is found in a process of trusting God intimately, completely, beyond our need to control, lose or suffer. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 He knows your hurt. He is there in your hurt---there is consolation everywhere we lift our eyes out of our own misery to see the grace of all that He is. Your pain is deep, and it won t just go away Your call is to bring that pain home. As long as your wounded part remains foreign to your adult self, your pain will injure you as well as others. Yes, you have to incorporate your pain into yourself and let it bear fruit in your heart and in the hearts of others. This is what Jesus means when he asks you to take up your cross. He encourages you to recognize and embrace 7
8 your unique suffering and to trust that your way to salvation lies therein. Taking up your cross means, first of all, befriending your wounds and letting them reveal to you your own truth. Henri Nouwen Here we see Job s reply to God s questioning... 42 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted. You asked, Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge? Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. 4 You said, Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me. 5 My ears had heard of you but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:2-6 What is God doing in your pain? He is making all things new----our repentance, our hope, our redemption. He s changing you perceptions and expectations--- he is consoling you in unseen graces that are preparing you to identify in intimate community with a world that strains and groans from its pain and injustice. 8
9 In our pain, He is calling us to lift our eyes away from our constant self focus and fulness---he is drawing us nearer to the image and mission of a Kingdom that lives to be the least of these to the least of these. Scriptures on God in Our Suffering Romans 5:3-5 More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us. James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. 1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 9
10 Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 1 Peter 4:12-19 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.... John 16:33 I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world. 2 Corinthians 4:8-10 We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 10
11 Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you. 1 Peter 4:12-13 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 1 Peter 4:12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. Hebrews 12:11 For the moment all discipline seems painful rather than pleasant, but later it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it. 11
12 Luke 14:27 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple. 1 Corinthians 10:13 No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it. Isaiah 55:9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. Philippians 3:10 That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. Psalm 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all. 12
13 1 John 4:8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 13