Why Do Good People Suffer? Part Two from the Book of Job

This must be in the top five list of questions we all want God to answer for us. In our own limited, human brains, we think justice must always play out according to OUR guidelines.  Have you noticed that’s not exactly how it works?

I make no attempt in this blog post to delve into all the deep theology that goes into a discussion around this topic, so I will limit it to some of the nuggets of wisdom we can glean from the story of Job which we looked at last week.

As you recall, under God’s full authority, Job had lost his health, his wealth and most of his family – and his friends stopped by to help make sense of this atrocity. Except they weren’t much help. Their only explanation was that Job MUST have done something to incur this wrath from God.

Let’s be fair to Job – from the very beginning of the chapter (Job 1:1) he is declared “… blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” Not a bad resumé, is it?  I’d be thrilled to claim that for myself. But I digress …

The point is – Job did not commit any heinous sin that would have justified the horrific way he suffered in virtually every area of his life.

After the back-and-forth debating between Job and his friends – with no apparent solution to this dilemma, Job finally gets an audience with the Almighty God. “Good,” you may be thinking, “Job will finally get the answers he’s looking for, directly from the Source.”

Not so fast. When God confronts Job, one of the first questions he asks Job is, “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?” Although God goes on to describe his power and sovereignty in a multitude of examples, I think that first statement would be enough to shut me up!

Because really, where were any of us when God created the heavens and the earth? This statement declares God’s power from the beginning of time and paints a VAST contrast between God and man. We only exist because God chose to create us. He is the Creator. We are the created. Simple and straightforward, theoretically.

There is a bit of a discourse between God and Job, but Job quickly comes to the realization that his perspective is miniscule compared to God’s. And he humbly repents.

As we read in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

And after all the chapters of discussion about how and why God is wreaking havoc on Job’s life, we are left without an answer to our original question. God doesn’t even share with Job the “conversation” he had with Satan before this all rained down on him.

This isn’t exactly what we were looking for, is it? We want answers, and we want them now. We want to make sense of suffering and know that justice is meted out in every individual situation, especially when it benefits us! That’s what makes sense to us, and we want God to get with the program so we can be on our way.

Spoiler alert – we aren’t going to get a clear answer to our question. So just what can we come away with? What promises can we cling to through our suffering if, indeed, we cannot escape it?

What does the Bible tell us about God’s character and His promises? Is THAT enough to make up for the lack of clarity around our question? I would argue it is. Anyone who has struggled through a trial, or many trials, in their life – and turned to God THROUGH that trial, can point definitively to the good that comes as a result of it.

I know of no better way to illustrate this than to go directly to the Bible. God’s Word informs every aspect of our lives, including the suffering of “good” people.

His Work through Our Trials

And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 1 Peter 5:10

Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. Romans 5:3-4

For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison. 2 Corinthians 4:17

His Sovereign Hand

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the victory and the majesty, for all that is in the heavens and in the earth is yours. Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Both riches and honor come from you, and you rule over all. In your hand are power and might, and in your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. 1 Chronicles 29:11-12

He Is Faithful

If we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself. 2 Timothy 2:13

For the word of the Lord is upright, and all his work is done in faithfulness. Psalm 33:4

He Will Never Leave You

It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. Deuteronomy 31:8

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. Isaiah 41:10

So God isn’t going to answer the age-old question, “Why do good people suffer?” But he will walk through the trials with you and bring you to the other side with a stronger faith if you let him do his work. Trust his sovereignty. Trust his faithfulness. And know that he will NEVER leave you.

That’s where Job eventually landed, too. In the end, God chose to bless him with more wealth than he had originally, and gave him more sons and daughters. May we, like Job, declare, “For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth.”