Job 2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason.”
Some people believe that good things happen to good people and bad things happen to bad people. They believe in the Law of Cause and Effect. But then why do bad things happen to good people? The book of Job in the Bible is a story about just that; bad things happening to a good person. I will be honest with you, the first two times I read the book of Job I was weary from what I perceived as constant complaining and wallowing from Job. But the third time I read it, I used a Study Bible and it helped me understand what was really going on.
Job was a man of faith, patience, and endurance. He was known as a generous and caring person and he was very wealthy. Then Job lost his possessions, his health, and his children. Job’s friends gathered around him wanting to help comfort him. But they wrongly assumed his suffering was a result of some awful sin Job had committed. They proceeded to try to convince Job to admit that he had sinned so that it would end his suffering, i.e. cause and effect.
Job was a patient man and he argued with his friends that they were wrong, that he had not done anything to deserve this suffering. But in the end, what broke Job’s patience was not the suffering, it was not knowing WHY he suffered. When God finally spoke, he did not offer Job an answer. Instead he drove home the point that it is better to know God than to know the answer.
God is beyond our comprehension and we cannot know why he allows each instance of suffering to come into our lives. Our part is simply to remain faithful. Job finally learned that when he had nothing else left, he had God, and that was enough.
Knowing God is better than knowing answers
Heavenly Father, when we are suffering, help us to remain faithful to you and to remember that knowing you is better than having all the answers. Amen