Forgive, Grow And Find God's Path for YouSýnishorn

A Lonely Road

What must have made Job’s suffering even more intense was his aloneness at times. His wife urged him to “curse God and die” (Job 2:9). His friends were miserable comforters, wrongly accusing him of secret sin. God seemed silent. Job felt utterly alone, yet he continued to cry out to God. His words show his pain: “Oh, for the days when I was in my prime, when God’s intimate friendship blessed my house” (Job 29:4).

None of Job’s suffering was lost, though. God used it for good in his life: refining him, increasing his faith and nurturing growth. Job emerged from his ordeal with more maturity. For this reason, Paul says that we “glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope” (Romans 5:3 – 4).

We would never choose to suffer or have our friends desert us in order to grow spiritually. But when struggles happen in life, when we are without every comfort and companion, God can use that pain for our good.