CUP OF COMFORT: Suffering
- CMW
- Apr 18, 2016
- 1 min read
“The LORD asked Satan, ‘Have you noticed my servant Job?
He is the finest man in all the earth—a man of complete integrity.
He fears God and will have nothing to do with evil.
And he has maintained his integrity,
even though you persuaded me to harm him without cause.’ ”
Job 2:3
• Ouch! When we’re hurting we usually try to discover the reason for our pain. That’s a wise move when mysterious agonies wrack our bodies. At those times, we need to see the doctor. But the question of suffering goes deeper: Why does it exist at all, especially in a world God loves? Job wrangled with God and his friends about this but never received a straightforward answer. Consider God’s amazing statement regarding Job’s suffering in the verse above. What is said there about the reason? Actually, the reason remained a mystery to Job. Yet he learned of God’s greatness and wisdom—a lesson more valuable than anything else. We could say that his pain had some good effects—it grew his own soul, and it called onlookers to be compassionate people. Will your sufferings this year have redemptive results that go beyond the question “why”?
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