The Paradox Of Job’s SufferingSample

From Good to Great

Notice that God’s way out is not a way out as per our understanding. It involves remaining in that situation and standing up under it. It means not allowing the situation to break us or even mow us down. It enables us to stand, head tall, right through that devastating catastrophe. And that is what we see in Job throughout the trial. We see true grit, true faith. We see those hidden timeless treasures that made him the man that he is, that was continuing to raise him to the even greater man that he would be.

Often it is only suffering and trials that make us better people than we would ever have been otherwise. It is only suffering that pushes us to explore the heights and depths of who God is, and discover and experience Him for ourselves.

From Job’s perspective, was it worth it to make one who was already a star in God’s sight to a brighter star at the expense of so much pain? I’m guessing he would say it was. Not only for himself but for the light it has provided to the rest of the world for generations onward.

In our minds we find it easy to think that if we are righteous, things will go well with us from the physical, material, and obviously, the spiritual side. We may not acknowledge it but we do often fall into the mindset of Job’s friends, assuming that only good comes to good. That assumption is certainly true in the long term but in this short span of life on earth, it may not be the case. Most of us prefer to think that Job’s suffering is an exception, not the rule. But is it, really? Job’s righteousness may certainly be an exception. Which brings us to the next question. 

Do those who are more righteous experience the most suffering? If we look at the lives of Jesus and His disciples, it would certainly appear to be the case. The only difference would be the fact that Jesus and His disciples suffered so that others could receive God’s salvation. Job’s suffering was entirely physically inflicted. But again, it is also a vehicle for others to experience God’s revelation, as he did. So that’s what makes it worth it. Not just the fact that it makes us better (which we may or may not even desire, to be honest), but the fact that it blazes out into comfort, encouragement and even salvation to many others around and even beyond us.