8 If I go forward, God is not there; or backward, I cannot perceive God; 9 on the left God hides, and I cannot behold God; I turn to the right, but I cannot see God. ~ Job 23:8-9
Do you remember Job? Job was the guy who got the raw end of a bet between God and Satan. God is well pleased with Job. Job has a thriving, fruitful, and faith-filled life that is overflowing with good thing. Job gives thanks to God and even gives offerings and atonement for himself and even on behalf of his many children just in case they have sinned. He is the ultimate believer. Satan tells God that the only reason Job is faithful is because Job has never experienced true suffering. God decides to prove Satan wrong by letting Satan take over all that Job has. And boy, does Satan do some real and heart wrenching damage to Job’s life.
By the time we reach chapter 23, Job has lost all his children, all his livestock, and his health. Yet, Job was still faithful to God. Job’s wife and friends trying to convince him that this great suffering has occurred because Job has sinned. But Job knows he has done nothing wrong. He goes back and forth with his friends arguing his innocence. Sometimes we see Job cursing the day he was born and the life that he had, but in all of that Job does not curse God and Job does not sin.
All Job wants, is to be able to ask God, “why me? Why must I undergo this great suffering?”
But Job is unable to perceive God, unable to behold God, unable to see God.
I think we all have moments where we feel our suffering is so great that we cry out with Job, the Psalmist, and even with Jesus, “my God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I know I certainly have. They are moments of great darkness, and sometime sorrow. It’s outright lament- complaining to God because it feels like God has not fulfilled the promises made to the people. These are faith-shaking moments where two things can happen. The first being, we walk away from God, retreating within ourselves. The second being, we remember and claim out loud that even when we can’t see or feel God’s presence and love, that God is there. Or the way that Job words it:
10 But God knows the way that I take…” ~Job 23:10
I consider Job to be the ultimate sufferer. As he questions all that has happened to him and all that he sees in the world, Job never doubts that God is there. He doubts God’s actions for sure, as I think we all do sometimes, but Job never doubts that God has a good reason for everything. And even as a reader of the book of Job, we never truly figure out why God has allowed Satan to put Job through this mess. Our questions are never answered, and God makes it clear that they won’t be when we cry out in lament. However, God consistently responds to the cries of the people meaning that in some way, our prayers are always answered, even if we cannot see the answer clearly.
What are you lamenting this week? How might God be responding and answering your prayer?
Blessings friends,
Pastor Nicole