Finding Faith and Meaning in Suffering: Lessons from Job

I think a lot of us, when we deal with somebody who's suffering or maybe we went through it ourselves, we struggle for what we say to a person. We try to think about what we want people to say to us. And so, we are trying to find the right words, and hopefully, you know, we have the right heart. When we're trying to talk to a person who's suffering, I believe that sometimes we say even the right things at the wrong time with a good heart. We really are trying to empathize with this person. But we haven't necessarily thought through what that person might take that to mean or what you're implying or whatever. Sometimes, we haven't really just taken the time to listen and to suffer with them. [00:30:01]

And they raised their voices and wept, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads toward heaven, which for some of us would be like, what on earth? And as you know, even in today's world, you go to other cultures and watch how they mourn, and it's different than how Americans mourn. I'm sorry. I'm a proud American, but we don't own how everybody should mourn with how we do it in the U.S. Every culture mourns differently. And this was part of that mourning, was that they tear their clothes, they sprinkle dust on their head, or ash, or whatever it is. And then verse 13 goes forward and says, And they sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. [00:36:47]

Sometimes presence is more powerful than words. And they just sat there and they hurt with him. They saw what he was going through. And so why add anything to it? Because this guy is suffering enough already. And perhaps if this story would have stopped in that moment, this wouldn't have been so bad. But it doesn't. The story continues. In chapter 3, Job begins to lament and basically curses his day of birth. In fact, chapter 3, verse 1, it says, After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. [00:37:11]

And that's not where the story ends. Because the three friends, obviously one of them being from a place that is wise, thought, you know what, maybe this is the opportune time for us to philosophize and for us to opine as to why he is suffering. Bad move. Some have called this the third trial of Job. The first trial was when he lost all his stuff and his kids. The second trial was his physical health and his wife. Now the third trial is the three wise guys. You know, to quote Curly the Stooge, the great philosopher. Ah, wise guys. [00:38:42]

And what you will see, at least in the first round, he also just pours his heart out to God with questions in front of his friends, which shows incredible vulnerability. He pours out questions to God in front of them. And then the next friend says something. And then Job responds. And this happens three different rounds. So we're going to take a look at some of the accusations that the friends threw at Job, saying, this is why you're suffering. [00:40:39]

Job responds to his friends. He does the best he can. And he's also, as I said, processing out loud his feelings about God, his questions to God. And his friends get to overhear this. The first response that Job had was in chapter 6, and that was to Eliphaz. And he says, you know what? Friends don't kick a downed friend. Man, what kind of friends are you guys? Here I am suffering, and you're kicking me while I'm down. [00:46:29]

The second response that Job shares is to Bildad, and he cries out. It's really not even a response. He just says, I need a mediator to speak to God. I need a lawyer, because it doesn't appear me crying out to God, God's hearing me at all. I need someone that maybe he'll listen to, because he's not listening to me, and so I need this mediator to speak to God to fight for my case, to fight for my cause. [00:48:06]

Job responds to these three new accusations of hypocrisy, and being forgotten, and everything, and basically them calling out, well, you're wicked, you lost everything, and you're going to be forgotten. And Job responds, you know what? God has betrayed me. You get a sense of his true feeling right now. God, where are you? You've turned your back on me. Where are you? God has betrayed me, and in chapter 16, verse 11, he says, God gives me up to the ungodly, and casts me into the hands of the wicked. [00:52:54]

By the way, Job doesn't do any of these without getting a shot in on his friends, because he also says, all of you have insulted me ten times. In chapter 19, verse 3, it's like, what kind, again, what kind of friends are you? First, you know, he said, you shouldn't be kicking somebody when he's down. Now, he's like, you've insulted me ten times. Job also responds. Again, a forward thinking, what would eventually be what Jesus does for those of us that are Christian. My Redeemer will ultimately vindicate me. [00:53:32]

Truth is, if we were to go to a person who lived in a war-torn country, is experiencing poverty, is experiencing all the suffering that comes with that, and say, write down what you think God is, apart from Scripture and all that. Write down what you think God is like, God, all that. And then you go to a person who has never known war, never known poverty, never known suffering, and you ask them to do the exact same thing. Some things may overlap, but I think they'll be different, because they are basing their view of God on their circumstances. [01:01:31]

And when I am going through those times of suffering, I have to put my anchor in what is true, even if my body doesn't feel like it. Even if my mind is playing games with me and accusing God of things that are horrible, I know what his word says. And so I can never allow my circumstances to define my theology. There's three takeaways I want us to think about as we wrap this up. These are the practical takeaways for all of us. Number one, the ministry of listening is as powerful as advice. [01:02:16]

Advice is great at the right time or when it's asked for, but those that are suffering oftentimes just need someone to be with them. The second thing, just because a statement is true doesn't make it helpful. This is what I mean by the right thing at the wrong time is the wrong thing. Just because that statement might be true doesn't mean it's going to help that person feel any better. Proverbs 25 .2 says this, whoever sings songs to a heavy heart is like the one who takes off a garment on a cold day in the middle of the polar vortex. [01:04:48]