This New Life

Job is a man in agony, and he’s been pelting God with questions because of it. He wants to know—as would anyone—how the Lord could allow him to suffer for no apparent reason. Like a lawyer shooting out questions in rapid-fire succession, Job lets God have it. Throughout the interrogation, God remains silent. He doesn’t say a single word, but that is about to change. For 30+ chapters, Job has questioned God, but now God will question him. It’s Job’s turn to be quiet. Really, it’s Job’s turn to be put on trial.

“Then the Lord answered Job out of the storm. He said: ‘Who is this that darkens my counsel with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me. Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand’” (Job 38:1-4). Thus begins what some critics have called “the grand failure.” God misses an opportunity here to explain himself. He simply pulls rank on poor Job, sort of like a drill sergeant flexing his muscles and barking orders at his soldiers just because he can. “Drop and give me twenty, Job.” O.k., God is all powerful, but how is that helpful? How is that an answer? And why does this power play—if that’s all it is—lead to such a dramatic response of humility and repentance by Job after God is done speaking to him (cf. Job 42:6)?

As it turns out, God’s response to Job is much more than a power play. Indeed, divine power is only part of the response. Quite significantly, Job’s encounter with God is uniquely personal to him. It’s also supremely gracious, as this message seeks to show. God takes Job on a whirlwind tour of the cosmos, which leaves him overwhelmed in more ways than one. The divine strategy is clear: The God of nature reveals the nature of God. This nature is critical for all of us to know and experience when we ourselves are suffering. For example:

God shows himself to be infinitely powerful. When we are suffering, we need to know that God is still in charge of the universe.

God shows himself to be infinitely perceptive. When we are suffering, we need to know that God still has a good purpose for us.

God shows himself to be infinitely playful. When we are suffering, we need to know that God is still delighted with his creation.

God shows himself to be infinitely parental. When we are suffering, we need to know that God still cares about us personally.

What Job wanted all along was a demonstration of God’s goodness, and that’s exactly what he gets. God unveils to Job his divine strength, wisdom, joy, and love. He gives Job a cosmic answer to earthly pain, and he accepts it. As such, God’s response here is not a “grand failure” at all. It’s the “grand finale.” Job learns what all of us can learn in times of pain and suffering: The answer to life’s hardest questions is God himself.

In Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth has despised Mr. Darcy for most of the book. He appears to be distant and aloof. He appears to be cold and unfeeling. He appears to be pompous and proud. But when Mr. Darcy finally reveals himself—in all of his charity, love, and good deeds—Elizabeth is melted by love. When God reveals himself to Job, a similar thing happens. He is melted by love, and he is supremely satisfied by that love. We can be, too.

Sermon Resources:

A Cosmic Answer to Earthly Pain (Sermon Outline PDF)Download

A Cosmic Answer to Earthly Pain (Sermon Powerpoint PDF)Download

Contact This New Life directly for the sermon audio file.

It’s often been said that good help is hard to find. The book of Job is a perfect case in point. Satan (“the accuser”) doesn’t make an appearance after chapter 2, but he doesn’t need to. He’s got Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad to do his dirty work. In so doing, they unwittingly become the Larry, Moe, and Curly of the Old Testament—three stooges who keep making a bad situation worse. Indeed, God finally takes them to task for their performance. He says to Eliphaz, “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken of me what is right, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7).

Ironically, these men thought they were being helpful. They thought they were being supportive. They thought they were defending God against Job’s accusations and complaints. In reality, they were just pouring gasoline on the fire. They were pouring salt in the wound, adding insult to injury. They did not comfort Job, and God, in the end, did not comfort them with any affirmation.

One challenging aspect of this drama is that sometimes the three friends do speak words of truth. They do say some correct things about God. Their theology isn’t all bad. Why, then, is God so angry with them? It’s because misapplied truth is a serious form of error, and misapplied help is a serious form of harm. In other words, it’s possible to be right in a wrong way. It’s possible to be right in a wrong-headed way. Know-it-alls tend to be like that. In fact, some of the cruelest people in this world are religious people who set out to defend God. (As if he needed their help.)

Nevertheless, one can sympathize with these men to a certain point. They come to visit Job because they do care about him. They do want to help, but the situation they find themselves in is not easy. What could they possibly say to Job—a man who keeps getting brassy with the Almighty? A man who seems to keep crossing the line of disrespect with his Maker. They’re almost in a no-win situation. But as Abraham Lincoln once said, “Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.” Job’s three friends would have been better friends had they kept their mouths shut in Job’s presence.

Eliphaz offers the arguments of a flawed mystic. Bildad offers the arguments of a false mediator. Zophar offers the arguments of a faulty minister. And that’s the problem. They’re offering arguments rather simply being present and being quiet. As a result, Job is still in pain, still in confusion, and still in despair. The help he receives is no help at all. What can we learn from their mistakes? This message offers some useful advice for two different but related groups. The first group is “When you are the friend wanting to help.” The second is “When you are the sufferer needing help.” The book of Job has plenty to say to both groups.

In the end, just as Jesus came into a world of suffering and ministered to people in pain, so believers can also enter into other people’s suffering and minister to them in his name. Such a ministry may not always require words. In fact, Jesus has a revealing middle name—it’s “With.” Emmanuel means “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; Matt 1:23). It means God present to us, God in our midst. The believer’s ultimate witness, then, is “withness,” especially in times of suffering.