Why?: A Study Through JobSample

By Pastor Dan Hickling

“As long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils, my lips will not speak wickedness, nor my tongue utter deceit.”—Job 27:3–4 (NKJV)

One of the wonderful features we find in the Book of Job is its uncompromising honesty when it comes to Job’s confusion. It doesn’t whitewash or water down the fact that there was much about Job’s situation that bewildered him. The question of “Why?” continually echoed out of his soul as the successive waves of suffering washed over him. 

Can we blame him? No, we can’t . . . but we can relate to him. How long before we find ourselves confused by a situation or scenario that God allows, which causes us to tilt our heads heavenward and ask, “Why?” Chances are it wouldn’t take nearly as much as Job was enduring at this point in his story. What I’m trying to say here is that suffering can produce confusion in our lives just as it did in Job’s.

However, there was something that Job wasn’t confused about as he was forced to walk the path of pain. While many aspects of life were confusing to him, he wasn’t confused as to the source of life itself. As the riptides of affliction pulled at him, Job remained anchored by his resolute understanding that it was God, and God alone, who was responsible for his being alive in the first place. Notice how he articulates this non-negotiable: “As long as my breath is in me, and the breath of God in my nostrils” (Job 27:3 NKJV).

Bit by bit, Job’s knowledge concerning his life was stripped away. What once seemed sure and certain was no longer. If you’ve ever seen a building being systematically torn down beam-by-beam, you can envision how Job must have felt. Undoubtedly, he must have wondered if there would be anything left of him by the end of his story.

But just as every building has a supporting foundation, Job was supported by the foundational truth that his life ultimately belonged to God. It was the one certainty he would not concede to circumstance. No matter what . . . Job knew his life, however broken it may have been, belonged to God. This means He was ultimately responsible for the outcome, and this truth of God’s ownership would come to carry Job through his confusion. 

We have a lot in common with Job, we’re going to be confused in life just as he was. But it can’t stop there. We must also share in his foundational understanding that at the end of the day our life belongs to God, because this is the one truth that can carry us through our confusion.

DIG: What wasn’t Job confused about?

DISCOVER: Why was this so critical for him?

DO: What is your no matter what? Job said he would never speak wickedness, he would never utter deceit . . . Consider what your no matter what statement is.