January 23rd

Job 15:1-18:21

Two of Job’s friends insulted him with their words, for both perceived Job to be suffering because of sin that he had committed. Eliphaz said, “If you will listen, I will answer you from my own experience. Wicked people are in pain throughout their lives. They conceive trouble and evil, and their hearts give birth only to deceit” (15:17, 20, 35).

Bildad echoed Eliphaz with these thoughts, “The truth remains, that the light of the wicked will be snuffed out... The light in their tent will grow dark. It will be said that this was the home of a wicked person, the place of one who rejected God” (18:5, 6, 21).

Job responded to both, “I have heard all this before. What miserable comforters you are! How long will you torture me! How long will you try to break me with your words?” (16:2; 19:2).

It is a common misconception that suffering happens because of sin, but it is clearly evident from the story of Job that those who love God are not exempt from trouble. We, too, experience hardship in our lives, and that hardship may be caused by various reasons, such as the fallen world in which we live, consequences of our sinful deeds, testing from God to refine our faith, or, as in Job’s case, flagrant attack from our spiritual enemy.

Knowing which one of these is the source of our troubles is difficult. Sometimes, suffering simply does not make sense. However, although we may not be able to understand the pain that we experience, it can lead us to rediscover God.

Where do your thoughts run to when you are suffering? Do you fill your mind with your own wisdom or the truths of God’s Word?

More often than not we spend too much time trying to figure out why we’re suffering rather than trying to learn what it is that the suffering is supposed to teach us. We would do better to stop trusting in our own wisdom and relying on our own strength.

Paul wrote, “...To keep me from exalting myself, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment me. Concerning this, I implored the Lord three times that it might leave me; and He said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness...’” (2 Corinthians 12:7-9).

The Lord never said that His followers would enjoy a life of comfort and convenience. He never promised that suffering would not come our way. What He does promise is that He will never leave us or forsake us, even in the midst of trials or trouble, that He loves us and is conforming us to the image of His beloved Son, and that His grace is sufficient for us.

God does not ask us to make sense of our suffering but rather He calls us to trust Him in the midst of our suffering, for His grace is enough.

BiAY.org | Day 23 — 342 Days to Go