Lessons from Job

By: Hannah Rech, me'ushar (Hebrew: happy, contented) 

​We recently studied the book of Job in our ladies' Bible study group. As I worked through Lydia Brownback’s study on Job and reflected on our discussions, the Lord continually brought me back to two truths.

First, the book of Job teaches us that the way we listen to and respond to our suffering family in Christ is very important. It can be difficult to tell whether someone is “suffering well” or if they are sinning in response to their suffering. We often try to see into the person’s mind and heart to diagnose the problem or determine if they are in the wrong somehow. 

There are many verses in the Bible that talk about God knowing our hearts. I think specifically of 1 Samuel 16:7 where God tells the prophet Samuel that God sees not as man sees. Humans tend to look only at the things they can visually comprehend - the outside of people (in this case, it may be their actions, words, or responses to the suffering). It can be all too easy for us to look at a fellow believer who is suffering and compare their response to the way we think the person should respond to suffering. 

Maybe we think they should be praising God even in the suffering, thanking God, speaking about the positive, or correcting their sinful thought patterns. It is good to remind each other of the ways we should be walking. However, we must also be aware that there is a time and a place for everything and that we may not see the whole picture of what is going on inside the individual’s heart. We see with limits. The Lord sees everything. Jumping to the conclusion that a suffering friend’s thinking needs to be ‘fixed,’ or that a sin must immediately be corrected, can lead to even more pain. That may not be what is most needed in the moment. 

Instead, we should pray, asking the Lord to give us the humility to say, “I don’t see the whole picture. Help me rest knowing that you will help my friend whether it is here and now through what I can do or later through what You alone can do.”

The second thing to be reminded of is the comfort that comes from considering God’s work in both the good and the evil in the world. One of our discussion questions made me realize that I needed to better understand and verbalize how Christians reconcile a good God with bad experiences. The beginning of the book of Job can often be hard to study as it depicts the influence the devil holds in our world.

A key that I found helpful to consider was realizing that God didn’t do the evil to Job, he allowed Satan to bring pain and hurt into Job’s life. Now, to an individual whose relationship with the Father has not been repaired by believing in Jesus’ atoning sacrifice and repenting of sin, this can be terrifying. But as a child of God, His power over Satan’s influence on our lives can actually show how truly good He is. 

He loves his children. He faithfully sustains His children through every trial He allows (1 Corinthians 10:13). If He allows it into our story, He has a purpose for it. Although we may not know the specific purpose (just as the ending of Job doesn’t clarify for Job the why of the hardships he experienced), we can know with certainty the primary purpose of the suffering - it is for our good and for His glory (Romans 8:28).  Nothing that enters the life of a believer is outside of God’s sovereign care and purpose. 

He knows exactly what we are experiencing and how it is growing us and will shape us. Through every trial, He is eagerly showing His character to us, which in turn will bring us to humble worship of Him and deepen our relationship. Even if this growth and peace appear after the hard times.

Here’s one encouragement: if you see a fellow believer suffering and it doesn’t look the way you think it should, stop. Pray. Ask God to give you patience and humility. Remind yourself that He and He only knows their heart. And if they are a genuine child of his, he will restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish them— whether it is through the words you speak, the actions you offer, or some other way at a time you may never have chosen or ever get to see (1 Peter 5:6-11). 

You can be there, you can offer wisdom, you can help them learn how to better please God, but ultimately, they may just need you to be patiently present, to listen well, and to put your hand over your mouth while trusting God’s great love and character to speak for itself when the time is right. Bear with one another in love (Ephesians 4:1-3).

And one final encouragement that follows what I learned from our discussion of Job is this: It’s ok if your suffering looks “ugly”. Even so, God does not reject you if you tell Him with all your emotions that the suffering is hard, that you don’t enjoy the pain you’re going through or the path you’re on, that you don’t understand what He’s doing or what you will learn because of it. 

You are free to do all of these things because, after openly talking to your father, you can recall that he chose each hard, evil thing for a purpose and He will comfort you, whether here on earth through knowledge of Him, His power, His plan of salvation, and His love for you, or someday in the new Jerusalem when He will have finished the work He started in you, one trial at a time.