God will never abandon us!

By Dean Collins

Over the years, I have served in many leadership roles including youth minister, campus pastor, counseling center director/therapist, HR executive, consultant, and now university president. I have had hundreds of conversations with people from all walks of life and all income levels. I have found that, in every category, there are hurting people who go through such hard times that they question God. They ask, “Why me? Why now? Why this?” Sometimes the pain is so great that the individual wishes they had never been born or that they could simply die.

Followers of Christ are not immune from pain and suffering. Jesus was very clear that we would have many troubles in this world.

Moses, Jeremiah, and Elijah all stated that they wished they could die. Job wished he had never been born. When we struggle, question God, and have difficulty understanding our suffering, we can be sure we are in the company of some of God’s chosen prophets and leaders.

At Christmas time, we watch all the Christmas classics. One of our favorites is It’s a Wonderful Life. The leading character, George Bailey, had such a mess of a situation that, like Job, he wished he had never been born. Just because God doesn’t send an angel like the scriptwriter did for George Bailey doesn’t mean that he doesn’t hear us or that he will not show up. We have many promises in scripture that confirm God does show up in our darkest hours!

In the story of Job, after multiple tragedies, extensive suffering, and unhelpful conversations with his friends, Job still has questions that are not answered. In Chapter 38, God speaks to Job out of a whirlwind. I am guessing that when God showed up in a whirlwind, comfort and joy were not Job’s first emotions. I suspect a whirlwind and the voice of God might have stirred fear.

With all that Job had gone through and was still experiencing, it seems that maybe something like Jesus' words in Matthew 11 would have been comforting:

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Instead of comforting words from heaven, Job gets a lot of questions from the Almighty! God’s opening line: “Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?” And it appears to get more intense as God continued: “Dress for action like a man; I will question you, and you make it known to me.”

What follows is a litany of questions that Job could not possibly answer. And as this questioning goes on for a few chapters, we realize that God didn’t expect Job to answer. God already knew that Job couldn’t answer. I think what God might have been doing was expanding Job’s horizon and helping him understand that God had not abandoned him nor any of his creation.

In the chapters that follow, we along with Job realize just how present God was in the design of the universe and how much he still holds it and us together. His love and his ways are beyond our wildest imagination.

Finally, in the last chapter of Job, we see things resolve well for Job. His health is restored; and he sees a restoration that only God can make possible.

As I read this passage, I am reminded how easy it is to get stuck looking at my problems and difficulties. You probably have experienced that the longer you look at your problems, the deeper the despair can grow. Maybe one lesson from Job is to look up and out to God where we can be reminded just how powerful and amazing God truly is.

God does see us in our pain. He does hear our prayers. And he will meet us where we are and will take us all the way through our circumstances and into his presence and, one day, to the other side of our situation. Like Job, we will see the full renewal and restoration of not just our pain but of all things.

Your Time with God’s Word
Job 38:1-7; Job 42:2-6, 10, 17 ESV

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash
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