Why Does a Good God Allow Suffering? (Part 2)

Introduction

Last week we opened one of the most difficult books in Scripture and asked the question, “Why does a good God allow suffering?” As we studied Job 1-2, we saw that even in suffering, God remains wise, worthy, and always working for His glory and our good. I pray that if you’ve had a difficult week, or if you weren’t here last week but you’re struggling today, that you understand that the same God who sustained Job at rock bottom is the same God who sustains His children today too!

The book of Job isn’t 2 chapters long, though. There are 40 chapters to go. Job lost his children, possessions, and health almost immediately, but we see that he wrestles with this pain for a long time. Can you relate with that? You endure through a season of suffering, but even after that season is over, the pain remains? Listen to what part of what Job says in the chapters that follow

Job 3:1–6 CSB

1 After this, Job began to speak and cursed the day he was born. 2 He said: 3 May the day I was born perish, and the night that said, “A boy is conceived.” 4 If only that day had turned to darkness! May God above not care about it, or light shine on it. 5 May darkness and gloom reclaim it, and a cloud settle over it. May what darkens the day terrify it. 6 If only darkness had taken that night away! May it not appear among the days of the year or be listed in the calendar.

Job 3:26 CSB

26 I cannot relax or be calm; I have no rest, for turmoil has come.

The same guy who said, “The Lord gives, the Lord takes away, blessed be the name of the Lord” in chapter 1 and who worshiped while he wept, is the same guy who a little while later is cursing the day he was born. He struggles with everything that he has been through. He searches for what he has done wrong. In chapter 6 he says the arrows of the Almighty have pierced me and in Job 13:15, we find this incredible verse

Job 13:15 CSB

15 Even if he kills me, I will hope in him. I will still defend my ways before him.

The Bible might have a Hall of Faith, but it doesn’t have a class of suffering-free superheroes. We see example after example of people who are used by God and who believe in Him, but who wrestle with life. We see that even faithful people can fall to frightening places. Job’s circumstances impacted every aspect of his life and after 35 chapters of dialogue, debate, and silence, we see the Lord finally speak. Before seeing that, I want us to read Job’s response in chapter 42

Job 42:1–6 CSB

1 Then Job replied to the Lord: 2 I know that you can do anything and no plan of yours can be thwarted. 3 You asked, “Who is this who conceals my counsel with ignorance?” Surely I spoke about things I did not understand, things too wondrous for me to know. 4 You said, “Listen now, and I will speak. When I question you, you will inform me.” 5 I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you. 6 Therefore, I reject my words and am sorry for them; I am dust and ashes.

I had heard reports… but now my eyes have seen. These are powerful words and I pray that they are your testimony today! Let’s pray and ask Jesus to help us trust in His plan, even when it’s hard.

How does Job go from a broken man to a worshiping man? Why does God allow this suffering to take place in Job’s life?

God Allows Suffering (to reveal His greatness) So We See God More Highly (38-41)

From Job 3-38, we see 35 chapters of silence from God. In chapters 1-2 we see God converse in heaven, but during the bulk of this book, Job suffers and doesn’t know why. He talks with his friends for several chapters and explains his innocence even though his friends have different opinions as to why he has suffered so much, but we arrive finally at Job 38 and your heading likely reads like mine, “God answers Job.” We’re finally expecting God to answer the WHY question. Why did this happen? Why did Job lose everything? Why did this man and his family suffer so much? Remember, Job’s perspective is limited - we know what happened in chapters 1-2, but Job didn’t. He didn’t know why he went through this. He didn’t know what God was demonstrating during this season of suffering. We expect God to hit Job with the answer here, “Job, here’s why this happened…” but this isn’t what we see. Look at the beginning of Job 38.

Job 38:1–4 CSB

1 Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind. He said: 2 Who is this who obscures my counsel with ignorant words? 3 Get ready to answer me like a man; when I question you, you will inform me. 4 Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding.

Job 38 continues with 37 questions that God asks Job - and if you add chapter 39, you get 18 more questions. That’s 55 questions that God asks Job back to back. God asks Job all about creation. The animals. The foundation of the earth. The stars. The weather. The Behemoth and Leviathan. Quickly we realize something… Yes, God answered a question with a question, but there’s a reason. Job didn’t need information to his question, He needed revelation about how BIG his God is.

How many times have you asked the “WHY” question? Like, why did this person say that thing? Why did this thing happen to me? Why did ______? Have you ever gotten the answer to the why? Sometimes I have. I receive the information, but it doesn’t always bring about transformation. Explanations rarely remove heartbreak. They satisfy our curiosity momentarily but they don’t sustain our souls. Have you experienced this? Do you think that God knows this too? He does! He knows that answers don’t always satisfy our souls, so this is what God does. He doesn’t answer the question on Job’s mind, instead He redirects Job’s eyes. It’s as if God says that in order to understand suffering, you first must understand God. And this is what God does in these chapters - He takes Job through a creation tour.

Who laid the foundation of the earth? Who tells the sea where to stop? Who governs the stars? Job knows the answer - and I pray that we do today, too. God does. God created the world. God formed the stars. God said let there be light, and there was light. God is able to do all of those BIG things, and if God can govern and control and design the universe with all the planets and stars and galaxies that we can’t understand, don’t you think that God can also govern and control things in our lives that we might not really understand? He can. So often we get in trouble because we don’t understand something, and we assume that means that God doesn’t know what He’s doing. But Scripture reminds us of a powerful truth

Isaiah 55:8–9 CSB

8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.” This is the Lord’s declaration. 9 “For as heaven is higher than earth, so my ways are higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.

Do you see that? God’s ways and thoughts are higher than ours! In these verses, with all these questions, God is showing Job that He is God and that Job is not. And on one level we might be disappointed by that - that there are things outside of our control and understanding… but at the same time, there is great comfort in that reality too. This summer we took Gabriel and Isaiah on their first plane ride to Florida for the SBC annual meeting. Going down that day, Gabriel decided that he wanted to wear his Oklahoma City Thunder shirt we got him for his birthday, and it literally says, “Birthday Boy” on it. I’ve never seen this happen, but that kid got to go in the cockpit in every airplane we flew in! If you’ve ever flown before, you know that you can kind of see the cockpit whenever you walk into or out of the plane, but I’ve never been inside of it. So, I got the perks of being Gabriel’s Dad and got to go inside and take a few pictures and I saw a whole bunch of buttons and levers and instruments that I had no idea what they all did. And as we were flying, I was thinking about that. These pilots are looking at things that I don’t understand and making decisions that I don’t even think about, yet I trust them to do this. I don’t understand what they’re doing, but I trust that they’re doing what needs to happen for us to get from one airport to the other. If we trust them with our lives, how much more can we trust a perfect God to guide us from this point to our destination? The same God who created that pilot, who sustains that airplane, holds the whole earth by the Word of His power. This is what gives us peace!

Often we want answers about why we are suffering. But here we see that God provides Job with a deeper relationship. God shows Job who He is. And that doesn’t take away our suffering, but it does give us a better perspective. The same God who created the universe, sustains it. The same God who spoke the stars into existence, calls them by name. And the same God who made you in His image, won’t forget about you. And this points us to Jesus.

Colossians 1:15–18 CSB

15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. 16 For everything was created by him, in heaven and on earth, the visible and the invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities— all things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and by him all things hold together. 18 He is also the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that he might come to have first place in everything.

The Creator of the whirlpool, is the same one put on flesh and dwelt among us as John 1 tells us. The same God who commanded the sea in Job 38 is the One who commanded the winds and waves to cease in Luke 8. The One who rules over Behemoth and Leviathan willingly walked and took our place on the cross. Job suffered, and we know that Jesus suffered too. This reminds us that whenever suffering strikes in our lives, our Savior isn’t removed from it - He relates to us in our suffering. So, the next time suffering strikes, remember that your God knows what it’s like to hurt. God allows us to suffer so that we have a higher view of His greatness and His willingness to suffer in our place.

God Allows Suffering (to refine our hearts) So We See Ourselves More Honestly (42:1-6)

Job has spent 40 chapters asking God questions and God finally answered with even more questions. Have you ever played the game 20 questions? You start with big ticket ones, “Is it alive?” “It is man-made?” “Is it a household item?” “Would a toddler try to eat it?” the list goes on, and eventually you try to narrow down so that at the end, you can guess the item correctly. Job has asked far more than 20 questions by this point. And finally, after all the questions, we see Job offer a confession in chapter 42. He apologizes to God. He understands that God can do anything. He said that he spoke when he should have remained silent.

Notice this, Job’s circumstances haven’t improved. His children are still gone. His possessions are still stolen. His health is still poor. God didn’t even tell him why all of this happened! BUT, something changed. Job finally had a proper view of God, and that meant that he also have a proper view of himself. Friends, this is the pattern over and over in the Bible. We don’t really understand ourselves until we first understand the God we serve. Consider the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah 6. He has this vision of the heavenly worship scene and this is his response.

Isaiah 6:5 CSB

5 Then I said: Woe is me for I am ruined because I am a man of unclean lips and live among a people of unclean lips, and because my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of Armies.

He saw the holiness of God, and his first response is that he is ruined, because he is an unclean man.

In Luke’s Gospel a few months ago we saw Jesus go out on the boat and tell them where to cast their nets. As they did this, they caught so many fish that their boat began to sink. Look at Peter’s response

Luke 5:8 CSB

8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’s knees and said, “Go away from me, because I’m a sinful man, Lord!”

Peter was on the water a lot. The water didn’t scare him. The fish didn’t scare him. Peter had an awareness of who was in his boat, and his first response is that he is a sinner. Whenever a sinner truly encounters the One true living God, they see themselves honestly, often for the first time. As one who does not belong. Job experienced this. He saw the holiness and power of God and his immediate response in chapter 42 is that he spoke when he shouldn’t have. He realized that he questioned God’s character and justice. Before we point the finger and say that Job failed, don’t we all do the same thing? We think that God should have done what we wanted God to do. We think that God should act and think just like us. What we do in those moments, is we elevate ourselves to God’s throne, and we dethrone God to stand on our level. Everyone might do this, but Scripture is clear, this is sin.

A few weeks ago I heard a pastor share a story that is so helpful for this point. He grew up working at a local restaurant while in high school and served tables. There was one day that he was doing his normal job and asked a table if they were ready to give their order. The family appeared ready, but the son was on his phone… and his dad said, “Please put your phone down, it’s time to order.” The son looked up at his dad and said, “Would you just shut up!” The pastor said, “I’ll give y’all a few minutes” and walked away. He told some other staff and they couldn’t believe that a kid would say that to his dad. They said, “Oh, kids these days!” Fast forward - the pastor shared this, “Every time we sin, it is as if we are that kid at the dinner table, and we tell our Father, “Would you just shut up!” Now, some of you can’t imagine telling your father that phrase - I can’t even go there because I can’t imagine what the consequence would have been… but how many times have you and I said things about God, disobeyed His Word whenever we knew what was right, or simply failed to give Him the praise He deserves, and not even thought twice about it? We can’t imagine telling that to our dad, but we tell that to our heavenly Father each and every day… Job realized he had done this. He had spoken when he shouldn’t have. He had said things that weren’t true. And he repented. He admitted his wrong. He rejected what he had done. He apologized. Brothers and sisters, faith family, whenever we miss the mark, we acknowledge it and we seek our Father’s forgiveness. Good news! He is gracious and He is good. Even in our suffering. Even when we can’t understand.

Often whenever we go through suffering, we just want to get back to where we were. A few years ago I struggled with insomnia. Like maybe an hour of sleep each night. Anxious. Exhausted. And each night I literally begged God to just let me go back in time to when I used to be able to sleep. I wish things would just go back to then. But what I discovered in that time, and what I’ve learned in studying Scripture, is that God often has different desires for us. Hebrews 12 speaks of God being a Father who disciplines those He loves. He wants us to grow into the people He wants us to be - and that often doesn’t mean that we go backwards, we press on forwards through suffering, and we are transformed. Look at what Job says

Job 42:5 CSB

5 I had heard reports about you, but now my eyes have seen you.

Friends, if you’ve walked through the fire, but found God faithful each step of the way, you can hear reports about that. You can hear about how God provided for other folks… but when you see it yourself? That hits differently! God has a way of helping us see ourselves for who we are, so that we depend on Him even more. And when this happens, we find God more glorious, gracious, and grand than we did before we suffered. In our suffering, we discover that the same God who used the suffering of His Son to accomplish our salvation, helps use suffering to make us more and more like His Son. He refines us. He transforms us. And, even when we don’t like it, He has our best interest at heart!

God Allows Suffering (to renew our hope) So We See Our Future More Hopefully (42:7-17)

We live a nice ending to a sad story. The stories when someone has had a long and hard road, but at the end is rewarded for their work and effort and character. There is a temptation to read Job exactly like this. Like the person who worked really hard for a long time and eventually got the reward that they deserved. There’s a deeper and more common temptation for us to not only read Job this way, but to apply Job this way. To think that suffering is undeserved and that if we suffer well, we will be guaranteed to get even more rewards and riches and treasures and followers after we suffer. That if I suffer good, I’ll get my stuff back on the other side of suffering. To read the conclusion to this story and see Job end up with 10 new children - 7 sons and 3 daughters - and double the possessions, and to say that Job ended up doing pretty good in this book. His health is restored. His family is restored. His friends are restored. We can think that we’ll have the same story - if we just suffer well.

James 5 speaks about the end of Job and his endurance

James 5:11 CSB

11 See, we count as blessed those who have endured. You have heard of Job’s endurance and have seen the outcome that the Lord brought about—the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Job endured suffering and we see the result, the outcome, and the reason why isn’t because of Job’s faithfulness. Do you see that? The reason Job received the outcome He did was because of the Lord’s compassion and mercy. In other words, Job was faithful to endure, but he didn’t deserve the riches he received. Just as Job 1 told us that the Lord gives and takes away, we see that this final section is a gift from God. All that we have is a result of His compassion and mercy. The good things and the bad things - all things are used by God to get us where we need to be. That can be a challenge to think through because so many want a trouble free life. A comfortable life. But that’s not often where we grow. We grow when we’re stretched. When we’re forced to cling to Christ. Take the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12. Look at what he shares about a similar season of unexpected and unexplained suffering

2 Corinthians 12:7–10 CSB

7 especially because of the extraordinary revelations. Therefore, so that I would not exalt myself, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to torment me so that I would not exalt myself. 8 Concerning this, I pleaded with the Lord three times that it would leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore, I will most gladly boast all the more about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may reside in me. 10 So I take pleasure in weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and in difficulties, for the sake of Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

I need you to see this, friend. Satan tormented Paul with a thorn in the flesh - there are all sorts of ideas as to what that phrase means, whether it was physical suffering or sickness, but the fact remains that this came from Satan. He prayed that God would take it away. God we know is greater than Satan. God could have snapped His heavenly fingers that created the stars and removed this thorn… but He didn’t. But look at the result in this passage. Paul’s faith is stronger even though he is physically weaker. He boasts in that weakness because Christ’s strength is made stronger and greater.

Earlier this week, my folks got back from a mission trip to Guatemala where they built a few houses, led a VBS, provided food to those in need, and poured into a local church that they’ve built a relationship with over the last few years. This year they had the opportunity to go to a local hospital and give meals to people who were there. I got to talk with my mom about this on Tuesday… and we talked about whenever I was 3 years old, I had a pathological hip fracture and was taken from Springfield to KU Med by ambulance. There was a cyst that they discovered and they believed it could be cancerous and so they ran a bunch of tests and eventually did several surgeries. I spent several weeks up in KC. My dad would come down for Sunday and do things at FBC Springfield where he was on staff, and then drive up later in the week to be with us, but my mom stayed with me. Having a son that’s about to be 3, I can’t imagine that. Sitting by your child’s bed in the hospital, absolutely helpless. Knowing that there is truly nothing that you can do to help your child get better. Having to trust fully in God’s power and in God’s plan.

I don’t know why that happened. I don’t know why I tripped in the yard as a kid at just the right angle for that to happen. I don’t know why they couldn’t take care of that problem at St. Johns. I don’t know why that situation happened… but I know that part of the reason it did was so that my mom could go this week and sit on the bedside next to mom’s who were next to their little kids and who felt absolutely helpless - and with a clear conscience, she could weep alongside them and say, “I know you’re hurting. I know that pain. Let me tell you about a God who is with us in our helplessness.” Today, your pain isn’t purposeless. Job didn’t get all the answers, but his faith in his father increased. And whenever our faith increases and we look more like Jesus, we can kiss those waves of suffering. We can have joy in chaos. Peace in pain. Hope in tribulation. Today, whatever you’re facing, you can trust that the suffering you experience has a purpose. It is weaning your trust in this world, it is destroying your pride, and it is deepening your trust in the Lord, one day at a time.

In Acts 7, we see deacon Stephen preach an incredible Christ-centered sermon. He calls on the Jewish people to repent of their stiffneckedness and trust in Christ for salvation, but they reject him and stone him. It appears as though Satan has won… in fact, in Acts 8, we see that the new leading persecutor of the Christians is a man named Saul. He starts to persecute the church, and the Gospel then spreads out of Jerusalem and into Judea and Samaria - which is what Acts 1:8 promised would happen. Satan attacked the church, and God advances the church through the attacks of Satan. And not only that, but the leading persecutor of the church, Saul, was transformed by the Gospel himself and became the greatest preacher of the church. Hear this, God can save anyone, anytime, anywhere! Satan’s attempts serve to advance the eternal purposes of God.

This is Job 42:2 - no plan of God can be thwarted. You might try, but you will fail. Satan has tried, and Satan has failed. In fact, we often think that suffering is the worst possible thing. We look at this at a 30,000 foot view in our country. If persecution comes on those who proclaim and profess Christ, that’ll just be the worst possible thing. Historically, whenever persecution has been the strongest, the Church has spread the greatest. Satan has attempted to quiet the advancement of the Gospel, but his schemes have only served to accomplish the advancement of the Gospel. This is what we hold on to whenever suffering strikes our lives. Just as the enemy can’t stop the Gospel from advancing and changing lives, he cannot stop you from living a life that brings glory to your Father - in fact, it is the suffering that you face that often provides the greatest platform for you to point a watching world to the Savior and Sustainer of Suffering Sinners! Spurgeon put it like this years ago, “Before God uses a man greatly, He breaks a man deeply.” Whenever we realize this, we can have hope in our suffering. Not after we’re done suffering. But while we are suffering! We know that God has a plan. We know that God hasn’t abandoned us. We know He is good and wise and working.

Notice how this book ends in Job 42:7-17. This isn’t a promise for a name-it, claim-it, blab-it, grab-it generation. This isn’t prosperity theology. This isn’t Jesus being your Aladdin genie to grant your every wish. This is a gracious reminder of an eternally significant reality: Suffering is not eternal for God’s born-again, blood-bought, glory-bound Children.

The wind that knocked your house down doesn’t get the last word. The boils that covered Job’s body don’t get the last word. The friends who abandoned him don’t get the last word. Cancer doesn’t get the last word. Mental illness doesn’t get the last word. Divorce doesn’t get the last word. Depression doesn’t get the last word. Even death doesn’t get the last word. And contrary to what some have said and sung before, the cross doesn’t get the last word either. The resurrection gets the last word!

Our Savior walked out of that tomb alive and because He lives, Peter tells us that we have a living hope. Friend, you aren’t facing anything a good resurrection can’t fix. If Jesus truly walked out of that tomb, everything is going to be ok. It might be hard. It may be painful. It may even seem impossible and more than you can handle. But it’s going to be ok because Jesus gets the final word. That’s why Christians can worship while we weep, not because the pain doesn’t hurt. But because we know where we’re going, and most of all, we know whose waiting for us whenever we get there. This is the hope that Job had, long before Jesus walked out of that tomb.

Job 19:25–26 CSB

25 But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust. 26 Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.

What a faith! Job didn’t know when God would act. He didn’t know why these things were happening. But he knew WHO he belonged to. And that makes all the difference. Church, bad theology hurts people, especially when it comes to suffering. God’s Word never promises a pain-free life. It promises us a faithful God each step of the way. He is good. Wise. Sovereign. And He holds His people fast during the sunshine and the storm. That’s why Job said, “I know that my Redeemer lives!” That’s why Paul could boast in his weakness. That’s why Stephen could pray for the men who were about to take his life. Their confidence was never in their circumstances, it was in the character of God.

Satan took Job’s possessions - but God gave Job a deeper knowledge of Himself.

Satan struck Paul’s body - but God displayed His strength in Paul’s weakness.

Satan scattered the church through persecution - but God used that persecution to spread the Gospel throughout the world!

Satan stirred evil men to nail Jesus to a cross - but God raised Him from the dead!

Throughout Scripture, and even today, we see the same truth: Satan’s attacks never prevent the plans of God, they actually propel them. In fact, whenever Stephen was about to be stoned, he prayed that God would not hold this sin against them. Who was in the crowd, holding the coats of the men preparing to stone Stephen? None other than the man that we know much later as the Apostle Paul. The enemy seeks to steal, kill, and destroy, but God brings about life and life in abundance! A moment that the enemy believed he was winning, a man prayed a faithful prayer, and God answered that prayer and used that man as his megaphone for decades to come!

Church family, whatever you’re facing today, remember this, God always gives more than the enemy takes. I don’t know what you’re carrying today. Maybe a difficult diagnosis. Maybe you have a prodigal son or daughter who has cut you off and you’re suffering in silence. Maybe you have a parent whose health is failing and you feel burnt out. Maybe you’re struggling with anxiety and feel all alone. Or, maybe you just feel like God is being silent. I can’t tell you why that thing has happened. I can’t promise you when that season will end. But on the authority of this infallible Word, I can promise you this: God has not abandoned you!

He is sovereign. He is with you. And He is for you! So, the next time suffering strikes, remember what we learn in the book of Job.

Lift you eyes - When suffering strikes, don’t let your suffering shrink your view of God. Open His Word. Surround yourself with Godly people. I’m so thankful for the family, friends, and Ministry Team at South Gate I’ve had over the last 24 months as there have been some HARD moments. They’ve encouraged me to fix my eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

Humble your heart - remember that God uses all things, including difficult seasons of suffering, to make us more like Jesus. Instead of asking, “Why is this happening?” ask, “God, how can I glorify you in this season?” Don’t let your suffering make you bitter, allow it to make you better as you grow closer to Jesus!

Hold on to your hope - There have been times the last year or two when my hope “tank” has felt pretty empty. Transparent. There have been long days and longer nights. I’ve had to fight more to have hope than I can ever remember because I’ve just been down in the dumps at times because of health and a whole lot of hurtful things that folks have said… If you’re there today, this is what helped get me through the dark cloud. This world is not your home! Your Savior reigns. Your future is signed, sealed, and settled, because Jesus conquered sin, death, and the grave.

BECAUSE HE LIVES

You will suffer. But you don’t have to suffer alone. If you’ve never trusted in Jesus - that hope can be yours today. There is a light that shines in the darkest of nights, and His name is Jesus. Turn to Him today, let’s pray!