Job moans in despair throughout this book hoping to contact God and get an answer to his suffering. Not much has changed in the centuries since the book of Job was written. Some of the same questions plague us today. How can the believer remain convinced that God is just when those who worship the Lord so often experience heartrending tragedy? God seems not to be found and His ways are beyond comprehension.
Like Job, we might feel we are being tested and being a caretaker, we are tested nearly every moment of the day. Couple this with our world situation and all the illness and chaos that surround, we moan our own despair. Gratefully, we can find hope even in the painful place of suffering. God’s word in Isaiah 45:3, “I will give you treasures of darkness, riches hidden away, that you may know I am the Lord, the God of Israel, who calls you by name,” reminds us there is hope in the unexpected places of darkness. Our focus is on our God who has the power to intervene in any darkness! Repeatedly, God says in Scripture that His is Creator, Sustainer, Savior, Deliverer, Healer, Friend and His ways and thoughts are higher than ours.
Psalm 147:5, “Great is our Lord, vast in power, with wisdom beyond measure.” There is no limit, for our God is huge and powerful and can and will (in God’s time) open a way forth in the darkness, as only an omnipotent God can. Each of us have stories how God has moved in our lives, our family, health, career, and more, especially when there did not seem to be hope of restoration. Particularly when we are despairing, it is important to recall God’s goodness in times past and be confident God’s astonishing love will carry us.
Suffering has the potential for producing gold in our life. With God’s grace, as we go through our individual suffering, we are giving birth to the new, something of lasting value. We learn to trust God in a deeper way as we go through many experiences that require us to wait longer than we would prefer. The waiting may be hard, but this makes us who God ultimatelycalls us to be. We have days when we are exhausted, our relationships demand more than seems humanly possible to give and our prayers seem to go unanswered. In those moments when we feel overwhelmed, wrestling with doubt, remember Jesus is in the boat with us and will renew our strength and send us help, as we keep our eyes on Him.
We are instructed to stand firm, believe, and trust in time answers will come. Will you live this word while waiting for answered prayer? 1 Corinthians 15:58, “Therefore, My beloved brothers and sisters, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”