BibleProject | Trusting God Through SufferingSample

Job loses everything—his property, his children, and his health. But even then, contrary to what the accuser expected, Job refuses to curse God. He does, however, curse the day of his birth. His pain is so great that he wishes he was never born. So how does God respond to Job?

God's reply comes at the end of the book, and it is a direct contrast with Job’s words against his birth. Job says, “let it be darkness,” but God recounts how he created light and restricted darkness. God shows that he is the one who limits evil and chaos, allowing light to overcome. Job wants to undo his birth, but God depicts himself as giving birth to the universe. God cares for creation like a wise father and a laboring mother. He is willing to suffer so that creation can flourish.

So if we relate to Job’s suffering, God wants us to know we are not alone. God knows the pain we feel. He feels it too. He painfully labors to bring life and limit darkness in the world. When our suffering doesn’t make sense and it’s so intense we can barely see beyond it, we can trust that God is at work limiting chaos and giving life.

Reflect:
1) What is one area of suffering you see in your life or in the world?
2) How might God be working to give life and limit chaos in that painful situation?
3) What did Jesus suffer in order to limit chaos and bring life?