Keeping Your Head Up In Suffering

This Lent, my congregation will focus our Wednesdays on the topic of suffering as it is presented in the book of Job.  I don’t need to convince you that suffering is a regular and unavoidable part of life.  When we suffer or when we witness suffering, questions naturally arise.  What is the cause of suffering?  How do I endure and trust God through my suffering?  What should I do to assist someone else who is suffering?  If God is so good and so powerful, then how can there be suffering at all?

The book of Job helps us address these and other questions.  Job was a righteous, wealthy man who was targeted by Satan for a test.  If all the earthly things meaningful to Job were taken away, would he still trust God? God took the devil up on his contest and allowed Job to suffer.  Family, property and health were all taken from Job.  Three of Job’s “friends” tried to console him and help him work through the tragedies.  It became clear to the “friends” that Job was ultimately responsible for all his problems and by turning from his sin, he would be relieved of his suffering.  Lacking perspective, Job’s friends tried to explain the unexplainable, resulting in even more pain.

It is generally true that people who live according to the ways of the world will reap those consequences through some sort of suffering, but not always. Righteous people often suffer just as much as the wicked!  It is simply not true to believe that our good works will result in a life free from suffering.  Rather, God works through the brokenness of our world and the weakness of our bodies to accomplish things far beyond our understanding.  When we trust God through the suffering, we can see a glimpse of a much, much bigger picture.

In the midst of his suffering, Job struggled between deep faith and stinging doubt.  He expressed hope for someone to mediate between him and God and cried out for God to weigh in on the situation. Finally, God broke His silence.  God didn’t answer all of Job’s questions, but He said what needed to be said.  God made it abundantly clear that He sees the big picture, and is in complete control.  While God is not the author of suffering, He does use it to strengthen our faith and the faith of others.  We who believe in Him are refined through this suffering to learn how to keep our heads up through it all.  In this case, “keeping your head up” not just a saying for conjuring hope.  Suffering has a way of turning us inward.  Job was no exception.  When God spoke to Job, his head was lifted to see a much bigger picture.  Job could trust that God was using his suffering for something greater, both in him and in others.  Even though it was impossible for Job to know it, God used his suffering to be an encouragement to countless others who suffered by putting Job’s story in the Bible.

God’s purpose in suffering also points to Jesus’ sacrifice.  Think of this, God saved the world from eternal suffering through suffering of eternal proportion.  Jesus didn’t deserve to suffer, but trusted His Father anyway as He endured the punishment for the sins of the world.  While the suffering itself was not good, God used it to do immeasurable good.  Did the suffering of Jesus show that God was weak?  No.  Instead, God used the suffering of Jesus for a good thing that could only have been accomplished through suffering.  Bringing good from suffering only proves all the more God’s supreme power over evil.

Keep your head up.  Even in your suffering, God is working for good.