Hoping Through Hurt: 5 Days of Biblical Counsel for the HolidaysSample

Is God Listening?

Suffering hurts. It confuses us. It’s an unwelcome surprise. We may wonder if God is even listening to our cries. It’s easy to believe that God is either absent or indifferent to our pain. But God has not forgotten you and yours. God’s Word assures us, “He will not leave you or abandon you” (Dt 31:6). God has the answers to your questions, and he wants you to keep asking them (Lk 11:5–13). Nothing can stop him from hearing and rescuing you. But he will do so according to his plan and in his perfect timing.

Learning from Job

Job was a good and prosperous man who loved God. But overnight, Job became a miserable, rejected beggar. He began to ask the natural, human questions of every sufferer: Where is God? Has he abandoned me? Why won’t he answer my prayers?

After losing everything, Job suffered the added burden of ridicule and shame. He cried out for God to declare him innocent. But God was silent, seemingly not listening to Job’s pleas (Job 3–37).

Job’s “comforters” believed that if they found out what Job had done to offend God, then his problems would be fixed. We also often believe that by answering the “why” of our suffering, we can fix the situation. This too is wrong. Job, knowing he was innocent, repeatedly called on God to appear and defend his reputation. When God finally appeared in a whirlwind (Job 38), Job and his counselors were stunned. God revealed that he had heard every word.

And God hears every word of your prayers, too. As he was with Job, he will also be with you the whole time and will never leave you. God spoke out of the whirlwind and offered his presence. Job responded with faith (Job 42:4–6).

Although God is always close by, we can feel alone. We must remind ourselves that regardless of how we feel, God is with us and wants our relationship to grow as we bring him our questions and listen to him in the Bible. God is not silent. And he speaks as someone who understands suffering from the inside. You have a God who understands suffering and draws close to you in your pain. That’s how God responded to Job’s questions, and it’s what we need the most.