When Innocent People Suffer: Part 2

I suppose volumes could be written on Job and his suffering. I think that the 30,000 foot view of the book as a whole provides some helpful insights regarding the broken places in our lives.

Observation One: Job insisted that his suffering was within the framework of the sovereignty of God. In chapter 2:10 he asks, “Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” Job is not certain as to what was happening to him, and even less certain as to why those things were happening. But he realized just the same that nothing could touch his life without God’s sanction. Behind the suffering stood Satan, and behind Satan stood God.

Observation Two: Job highlights the fact that there is such a thing as innocent suffering. Sometimes our suffering is the direct result of a particular sin or sins. But some suffering occurs that is not directly related to any sin. Suffering can be the result of human malice, negligent behavior, irresponsible governing, human selfishness, or natural disaster. All suffering is a consequence of the fall. But not all suffering is the direct retribution of particular sin. The whole point of the story is that Job was innocent. We insist on an economy where good people have good things happen to them and bad people have bad things happen to them. If bad things happen to you, you have done something wrong. Job is a blanket protest against this analysis of how things are in the world.

Observation Three: No matter how we prepare ourselves for the possibility of suffering, nothing can adequately prepare us for the actual shock of reality. It’s not unlike diving into an ice cold pool or stepping into a cold shower. In Job 3:25 Job said, “What I always feared has happened to me. What I dreaded has come true.” Job had already thought about these things. He knew it was not beyond possibility, and to that extent he was prepared. But awareness of the possibility or even the probability doesn’t decrease the pain.

Observation Four: Job doesn’t know at the beginning or the end the root of it all…God’s conversation with Satan. God’s intent was to prove that humans can love him, fear him, and pursue righteousness without any prompt material reward. Satan’s contention was that human’s pursuit of God was grounded in self interest, that humans are merely mercenaries, offering their devotion to the highest bidder.

Observation Five: Though his lament was loud and strong, at no point did Job abandon his faith. Why? He knew God was there and he believed God to be loving and just. Job struggled deeply, but his struggles were the struggles of a believer. God does not blame us if in our suffering we honestly vent our despair and confess our loss of hope, our sense of futility and our lamentations about life itself. But in the midst of his complaint lie deep confession. Job affirmed the right things about God’s character and nature.