~Old Testament Scenarios~
Job
“I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul.”
Job 10:1 (NIV)
"To Grow or Not to Grow"
Down through the ages there has always been that "little problem of suffering" and why do bad things happen to good people? We are a people who want explanations and aren't so good with unanswered mysteries. I'm not sure that I would want to be the measuring stick of misery that everyone uses to say, "Well, at least your life isn't as bad as Job's." I personally love Job; he never holds back, he never covers himself with the mask of pretending. Even if some of his understanding of things wasn’t always correct (like most of us), at least he had the guts to be bold in his cry for help and say it like it is.
Like Job, has your soul traveled "there"...gone to the edge of the dark place the soul? Have you wondered how much more you can handle, or where the heck is the bottom of your pit? Feel more dead than alive? Feeling far from God? Are you honest enough to even admit that?
We are told Job was a wealthy man from the land of Uz (somewhere east of the River Jordon near Edom). We believe he lived around the same time Abraham did, which would be 2167-1991 BC. God tells us a little about Job’s character, saying he was blameless. We are clued in and given insight into the recorded conversation between God and Satan, with Job being the main player of a challenge of loyalty. Would Job continue to freely follow in trust even when all his comforts were removed? Have you been tested in that area too? How's that going for you?
God allowed Satan to tamper with Job's wealth, family, and at the end, he was even allowed to tamper with the health of Job. We wonder why all this was allowed to go on. We each may have an idea or an opinion, but it truly comes down to...God's ways are not our ways. God never explains Himself; He only reminds us that he is Omnipotent. He is God Most High Exalted One (El Elyon). We can look at how many people throughout the generations have been touched and encouraged by the story of Job. How could he possibly know this at the time? We are inspired by Job's faithfulness when he stated, "Though He test me, I WILL come out like gold." Can you almost hear the song from “Rocky” playing in the background? Don't you want to be part of that special chosen few that are tested beyond what we think we are capable of so we can stand in front of the Lord one day to hear Him say..."Well done good and faithful one"? If not only the individual saint matures by going through trials, and God's kingdom is further enlarged by our temporary suffering in life, then truly the eternal glory that is our promise cannot be compared. Maybe we should take notice and praise the Lord for the goodness we learn from our suffering. It’s in the struggles that we truly develop and understand our true thirst for the Lord.
This is your day, God has given it to you. What will you do with it? Will you refuse the growth that a trial will produces in you? Will you be bold like Job and give God praise even in the roughest of times?
"For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
2 Peter 1:5-8 (NIV)