Hope in the Middle of Suffering

By Dean Collins

Having lost all of his possessions, wealth and children in chapter one, Job responds, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” As hard as that day was, we find this servant of the Lord not charging God with doing anything wrong. Maybe it was the shock of it all, but at the end of day one, Job doesn’t blame anyone for his sorrow. 

The next day, things went from bad to worse for Job. Losing possessions is certainly painful. Losing children is unbearable. But on day two, God allows the accuser to inflict pain and suffering by attacking Job’s health. Job was suddenly covered from the top of his head to the soles of his feet with agonizing sores. Job’s wife wasn’t any help to Job and told him to “curse God and die!” Job did neither, though death probably would have brought relief.

Job’s friends heard of Job’s great suffering and showed up to offer their support. Initially, these four friends did what was best: they simply sat supportively so that Job would know he was not suffering alone. We have all likely been in those moments where someone we love is faced with a great loss or is in a horrible health crisis and we don’t know what to say, but we want them to know we care. In those moments, our presence is more important than our words.

In chapter three, Job’s physical and psychological pain was so great that he wished he had never been born:

 “Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For then I would have lain down and been quiet; I would have slept; then I would have been at rest, with kings and counselors of the earth who rebuilt ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest.”

The author of Job does not tell us how long Job suffered. First there was the loss of his possessions and children, followed by his physical afflictions. We know that Job’s friends sat silent for seven days before they spoke, so at minimum, Job is in his second week of great loss when he declared he wished he had never been born. Chapter three ends with these words from Job:

 “I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

We know that in this world there will always be suffering. It comes at some point to everyone. We never know how long our suffering will last, but we know that God will be with us through our suffering, and that ultimately, when Christ returns, he will renew and restore all the brokenness in the world that contributes to suffering. 

 There are many things we can learn from the book of Job. One important lesson is that God is not bothered by our questions about our suffering. We do not have to hold our thoughts and feelings inside. Our friends may not find the right words, or worse, they may find the wrong words to say as we suffer, but God will always be with us through our suffering. The apostle Paul brings us important perspective for our suffering in Romans 5:3-5:

“Not only that, but 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.”

Father, we confess that there is so much we do not understand about human suffering, yet we trust your promises that you will be with us and will even develop our character and bring us hope as we endure the suffering we face in this world. Today, we choose to lean on you as our strength and presence. Father, help us to be present for those we see who are in pain today. Help us to know when to speak and when to be silent so that your comfort may flow through us. In Jesus’ name, amen. 

Your Time with God’s Word
Job 1:21-22, 2:3-13, 3:2-26; Romans 5:3-5 ESV

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