Friday, March 14, 2014

Why?


WHY?

(The Book of Job)

We got the word last night that my friend Sylvia was gone. She had ridden her bike six miles that day, played games with a grandbaby, enjoyed her sister’s company, went into the house to make dinner and in a moment passed from life into death.  An ordinary day….a tragic ending. She was in good health, vivacious, loving, adored by her children and friends. And we can’t help but ask the question…why? 

The question was asked last week when once prosperous friends told us they had lost absolutely everything.  The question was asked as we watched a friend suffer from ongoing pain.  In fact at any given day at any given time, millions of people on this earth are asking the same question. We know in our very beings we were not made for death or intense suffering or loss.

I understand why the book of Job was the first book in the Bible to be written. It is because it is one of the first questions man asked right out of the Garden. And it is the first question God answers for us and if we take time to consider His answer it truly can give us the greatest comfort.

God’s answer in a nutshell is first in a question. “Who are you, Job?” and then God patiently helps Job see who he is NOT.  God continues and in line after line helps Job see Who God is. And there is where the comfort comes in.  Life is not a random series of unconnected events going nowhere. Behind every event is the unseen but deeply involved GOD and He is in control and He truly can be trusted.

As I look back over my life I can honestly say that after time has passed, I can see God’s hand of goodness as I have lost many loved ones to death, have endured physical suffering and encountered great financial loss. At the time there was fear and anxiety and sorrow and yes, even anger. Yet if I chose to lean, to trust, to rest in Him, He proved to be all I needed. Sometimes that came quickly and sometimes it was a slow process, but God gently drew me to Himself. And there was peace, and assurance and comfort. The Book of Job is there to help us, to show us the way through trials, through the story of one man’s life. And for Job I will ever be grateful!

Study Questions

Although it will take more than “15 minutes” to read through the 42 chapters in the Book of Job, it gives us a picture of suffering and a clear understanding that God is in control.

1.      Based on Job 1:1-5, how would you describe Job?

2.      Based on Job 1:6-22, why and how did Job suffer?

3.      After a long discourse about how righteous his life is, Job demands answers. Who does he demand an answer from? See Job 31:35

4.      Read Job 38 and 39. How would you answer the question that was asked in Job 40:2?

5.      What was Job’s answer? See Job 40:4, 5.

6.      What was the final outcome of Job’s life? See Job 42:10-17.

7.      What trial have you been through that caused you to question God?

8.      What did God reveal to you about himself through the trial?