Suffering: A Study in JobSample

What does it say?

Bildad encouraged Job to repent, asserting that God wouldn’t punish Job unless he or someone in his family had sinned. Job then responded to Bildad’s call for repentance.

What does it mean?

From Bildad’s point of view, Job showed disrespect toward God by questioning why he was suffering. Bildad couldn’t comprehend that God would permit the righteous to experience such pain. He felt that only those who sinned against God would be punished through suffering, so he urged Job to repent from his sin. Instead of encouraging Job to trust in God’s compassion and grace, he made accusations concerning Job and his family. Job couldn’t imagine how to prove one’s innocence to a Holy God. In his anguish, Job felt that he had been found guilty, and his only option was to plead with his Judge for mercy.

How should I respond?

As followers of Christ today, we also suffer, grieve, and even question. We must rely on God’s mercy and grace during our grief and suffering. Mercy is best described as God’s not giving us what we deserve, whereas grace is God’s giving us what we don’t deserve. No one is holy or righteous enough to earn God’s favor. How have you tried to explain life’s ups and downs without regard for God’s grace? You can’t rely on your own goodness, but God’s grace is available to get you through any circumstance.