The Mystery of God's Love

"There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz..." Job 1:1a

From a young age I have played the piano. Annually my teacher would encourage participation in music festivals. I would have preferred avoiding these stress inducers, but apparently their purpose was to make me a better performer. I remember one competition that had received much preparation. My presentation was flawless. The audience applauded. First place was in my grasp. No other contestant was without error. It was mine. As the judges stepped forward to present the certificates, I was handed second place. First place was awarded to one who not only stumbled through the performance, but who forgot her memory and had to get her book. It made absolutely no sense. Life at times seems unjust and unfair.

Welcome to Job's world. We have just touched the outside realm of Job's turf. Job is a book of misery and mystery. He was like you and I. Quietly living out his ordinary days. "There once was a man named Job who lived in the land of Uz." That could be the beginning of our story today. There once was a woman/man named ______ who lived in the land of ______. Job's story could be our story, and that thought can frighten us. 

We read there was man, then there was a day. A day like no other. A day when life crashed down so hard the living of it seems unimaginable. Job's life is the personification of misery. A misery that God allowed after drawing the Accuser's attention to him. Job was a model man. He had a resume of righteousness, yet his piety and prosperity didn't protect him from pain. Here was a good man, a godly man, a faithful husband, a loving, praying father, then seemingly senseless tragedy invaded his life. So undeserving. No warning. No understanding. A strange cosmic agreement between God and Satan. There is just no comprehending. Life was unfair. Difficulties we can handle, but unfair seems too hard. It is this reality that fills our thoughts with questions.

Job got up one morning and his life changed forever. We too can experience Job moments in our lives. A phone call. A Doctor's report. A knock on the door. None are exempt from sudden tragedy. On a less personal scale, but still impactful, we hear of terror and tragedies, random shootings, child abuse and unexplainable loss and each one screams of the injustice in this world.

Suffering unaccompanied with understanding seems extra hard. If we are punished for doing wrong, although the consequences might bring pain, it is deserving. Job had done nothing wrong. He was a man of integrity, yet God chose for him to endure unfathomable loss and heartache. What makes it seem even more difficult to understand is that it is the Lord Himself who draws the enemy's attention to Job, not once, but twice. "Then the LORD asked Satan, 'Have you noticed My servant Job?'" (Job 1:8; 2:3) To this reality we must believe, as Chris Tiegreen writes, "God wouldn't offer up His servant for testing if He didn't already know the outcome." 

Journeying through the pages of the life of Job is not easy. I think it is natural to read and wonder if God could ask such a trial of each one of us. How many can truly say with Paul that we want to know Christ in His suffering? (Philippians 3:10) Most of us want to avoid hardship at any cost. We know that at any moment, if not for the grace of God, Job's life could be ours. That possibility can hold a shadow over our heads and fill our minds with 'what-ifs' and potential worries. 

Suffering is a revealer of relationship. Do we love God for what He does for us or who He is? Do storms in life make us ask, "Where is God?" We must remember, as Alistair Begg writes, "God's sovereign rule extended over Job's affliction and Satan's jurisdiction." As children of the Heavenly Father we can live being confident of His care and control over every moment of our days. We are continually held in the mystery of His love.

"Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come, Let this blessed assurance control;

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate, And has shed His own blood for my soul."

(Horatio Spafford; "It Is Well With My Soul"; copyright 1873)