Tract Text
Have you ever asked . . .
How could this be happening?
Why is God displeased with me?
What have I done to deserve this?
How could a loving God allow this
to happen to me?
A man who experienced intense suffering
In the Bible we are introduced to a man
who experienced the most intense suffering. Job “was blameless and upright, one who
feared God and turned away from evil.”
He was considered to be the “greatest
of all the men of the east,” and “a man
like no other on the earth.”
What Job’s story tells us
Job’s love of God was attacked by Satan who said that Job worshipped God on the basis of what he materially got out of the relationship and that God paid people to worship Him.
Some things for you to reflect on
- Is your relationship with God based on
what you get from God?
- Do you think God is so weak that He
buys human worship with materialism?
- Would you abandon God if you suffered
financially or physically?
- Will you continue to believe in God even in pain and suffering?
Consider how Satan attacked Job
The undeserved suffering of Job was the battlefield on which such questions were decided. What weapons did Satan use against Job?
- Satan attacked Job financially
with a violence and rapidity that is shocking. A raiding party rustled all of Job’s donkeys and oxen, and murdered his servants. Fire fell from the sky and consumed Job’s sheep and killed his servants. Another raiding party rustled all of Job’s camels, killing his servants. A windstorm caused the death of all ten of Job’s children (Job 1:13–21). All of Job’s security was gone. Animals and children were financial security in the ancient world. Has your financial
security been lost?
- Job suffered physically from
inflamed, ulcerous boils (2:7), itching
(2:8), degenerative changes in facial
skin (2:7,12), loss of appetite (3:24), insomnia (7:4), hardened skin, running sores, worms in
the boils (7:5), difficulty
breathing (9:18), loss
of weight (16:8), eye difficulties (16:16),
emaciation (17:7), bad breath (19:17), trembling of the limbs (21:6), continual pain in the bones (30:17), restlessness (30:27), blackened, peeling skin (30:28, 30), and fever (30:30). Like Job, you may be suffering horrible physical problems.
- Job suffered socially by loss of family and friends. Job’s wife said to curse God (2:9). He was rejected, jeered and mocked
by friends (12:4), even by children (30:1, 9–11). His “friends” called him a fool (5:2, 3); sinful (5:7); arrogant (8:2); evil (11:14); idle and useless (11:2); stupid (11:11–12); empty (15:2); unteachable (15:8–9); an
object of scorn (17:6); ugly (19:17–20);
dishonest (20:19); a persecutor of widows and orphans (22:9); and a worm, scab,
or maggot (25:6). Like Job, you may be
suffering from social alienation either
because of race, illness, disabilities, financial status, family rejection, lies
and deception by others, and more.
- Job suffered emotionally being grief-
stricken over the loss of his children (1:20–21), lacking a sense of peace (3:26), having no taste for life (3:2), being de- pressed (3:24–25), experiencing troubled thoughts (7:4,13–14), feeling uncertain (9:20), being without joy (9:25), and suffering from loneliness (19:13–19). Like Job, you may be suffering
emotionally from loneliness, depression, despondency, or rejection.
- Job struggled spiritually and
theologically with his view of God (6:4), questioning God’s goodness, justice and purpose, and being terrified by God’s
silence (23:8–9, 15). Like Job, you may be suffering spiritually because you do not know why God has allowed this.
What was Job’s response?
Even though Job went through all of this, he never lost his faith in God. He questioned
God, but yet he learned that his relationship with God was the issue, not his suffering.
In good or bad times, suffering or not,
God is God. It is all about God, not us.
What is your response?
Have you lost your faith in God because you suffer like Job? If so, consider
that your suffering may be a
witness to others of God’s goodness, justice, grace, and love.
“For just as the
sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives…it is for your comfort and salvation”
(2 Corinthians 1:5–6).
“For it has been granted to you on
behalf of Christ not only to believe
on him, but also to suffer for him”
(Philippians 1:29).
However, if you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, suffering may be used by God to draw you to Him. Trust Him. There IS a purpose in pain.
“He chose to be mistreated along with
the people of God rather than to enjoy
the pleasures of sin for a short time”
(Hebrews 11:25). “For Christ died for sins
once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death
in the body but made alive by the Spirit”
(1 Peter 3:18).
Respond to this message!!
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