The biblical book of Job confronts the question of human suffering but does not offer any simple answers. Someone once said: "beware of simple answers to the questions of life because life is anything but simple." We are told that the biblical character, Job, is a good man. In fact, the Lord boasts that "there was no one on earth as faithful and good as [Job]. He worships me and is careful not to do anything evil." Job was incredibly blessed, but lost everything but his own life (and even that was on thin ice). Job questions why God has chosen to make him suffer so terribly. He questions why God allows the good to suffer and the evil to prosper. After Job has a verbal wrestling match with his friends over the cause of his calamities, God enters the scene and asks: "Were you there when I made the world?" "Can you guide the stars season by season?" In the end, no easy answer is offered for the cause of human suffering. What is offered is an emphasis on God's sovereignty and God's ultimate control over the Universe. The other result is MYSTERY AND WONDER. A wise teacher recently taught me: "when you don't understand something, turn to wonder." Brilliant! In our analytical, scientific, cynical world, we resist WONDER. Why? Because we want to have control. But mystery and wonder can ultimately lead us to WORSHIP, worship of the God who made us. And that is exactly where we need to go!
(Interested in Job's story? Read if for yourself at www.crosswalk.com!)
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