Summary of the Bible in a Year: 13. Suffering

Job 38:4 ESV

Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job is a book about suffering. Yet if we hope it will answer why God allows suffering, we'll be disappointed. Instead, God questions who we are to question him.

Contrary to popular opinion, we don't have a divine right to know why we suffer. All we need to know is that God can bring good out of suffering. The cross of Christ is the ultimate example.

If Job didn't deserve to suffer, Jesus definitely didn't. Yet he did so on our behalf, so that in him we might overcome our sinful natures that cause such suffering. Eternity sets suffering in context.

God gave Job a lesson in putting him in his place. We have no divine right to know why we suffer. All that ultimately matters is that God can bring good out of it if we ask him.

'Almighty Father God, please help us to bear suffering as good soldiers of Christ. In his name we pray, amen'.

 

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