Today I’m confessing that I dislike reading the book of Job because it makes me very uncomfortable. It brings the ancient question: Why do bad things happen to good people? to the forefront of our minds. And calls for reflection and correction in how we view suffering and walk with those in pain.
This week I read the book of Job. I have a really hard time with Job. Such a hard time that while on the phone with my mom, I told her I’d rather be reading Leviticus.
Now that’s really saying something.
Job isn’t a book I’d just pick up and read for fun. It was on the reading schedule as part of the 90 Day Chronological Bible Reading Challenge that kicked off on Monday. If it wasn’t on the schedule, I wouldn’t have read it right now.
Job Makes Me Uncomfortable
Why is Job so hard for me to stomach?
Honestly, it makes me uncomfortable.
The book starts with scenes that leave me with questions. I can’t quite wrap my mind around the set up leading to Job’s troubles. From chapter one of this book I’m already uncomfortable. Wrestling with questions and circumstances I don’t fully understand.
Then, all kinds of calamity strikes Job. Which brings up more questions. Better stated: The Question.
Why do bad things happen to good people?
How can such terrible things come onto someone so honorable? Why isn’t the world just according to the moral code I understand? Where is retribution for those that do evil? Why don’t all kind people prosper?
Why do bad things happen to good people?
The majority of the book of Job records dialogue between Job and his friends as they debate this issue. Job holds fast to his innocence. He strains to hold onto his faith and what he knows to be true about God.
Word Vomit and Meaning Well
His friends seem to mean well. I’m sure the circumstances facing their friend left them uncomfortable and unsure how to help. But they can’t keep their mouths closed or their speculations to themselves. They offer advice on how to regain God’s favor. They imply that Job must have done something to deserve this. Surely there is some wrong that he hasn’t noticed causing this tragedy.
As I read, I spend half the time rolling my eyes, wishing they would just be quiet and listen to their grieving friend. Take time to fully understand what he’s feeling and facing. I spend the other half of the time cringing with conviction because I can relate to the friends’ reaction on a deep level.
How often, when confronted with a friend’s deep hurt, do I offer advice and suggestions about things I have never walked through? How often, when faced with the discomfort of suffering do I end up spewing “word vomit?” Looking the pain of another human in the face has a way of bringing out the “fixer” in me. Maybe it has the same affect on you. I want things to be better. I want to fix the problem. To ease the pain, to comfort, to make the trauma go away.
Instead of trying to fix, speculating, and problem-solving–often a better reaction is listening, asking gentle questions, and turning to Truth to understand God’s character. Easy said, but boy, it’s hard.
Why Do Bad Things Happen To Good People? It’s an Ancient Question.
The suffering brings out questions. Questions that make us squirm for closure. Closure that may never come on this side of eternity.
We’re reading the Bible chronologically for this challenge. In our plan, Job fits in around Genesis 11. This means that the book of Job is very ancient indeed. Likewise the question, “Why do bad things happen to good people?” And the human desire to equate noble deeds with prosperity and wicked deeds with retribution are extremely ancient.
While studying Job I learned that many texts exist from civilizations in the ancient Near East (like Mesopotamia and Egypt) exploring this concept. In literary pieces similar to Job, bad things come into the life of a good person. Then the text wrestles with big questions. What’s the cause? Why has he lost favor with the gods? What can be done to restore his prosperity?
Humans have long wanted to place God inside our understanding of moral law. We want Him to be just according to our standards. But He is too big and too far-seeing to fit there. His justice is pure, but it doesn’t always look like we want it to. His mercy is so vast we can’t comprehend it.
Friends, our human desire to understand why bad things happen without cause, is ancient and inborn. It’s a question that has been on lips for millennia. It’s been making us squirm, prodding us to speak too quickly, listen too shallowly, and come to the wrong conclusions about God’s character for longer than we can imagine.
Job Causes Me To Examine My Reaction and Heart Toward Suffering
This, is at the heart of why I have such a hard time with Job. The book causes me to stare into the eyes of a question that has very little closure. A question I am humanly programmed to ponder. A question I desperately want a simple answer for.
Humanity will (I will) continue to wonder, ponder and speculate. Why do bad things happen to good people?
The answer may never be more exact than, “We live in a fallen world. God will set it all right again one day.” It takes faith, trust and a relationship with God to take that answer and continue to move forward. To trust that He sees farther than me (see Job 38:22–23) and is just.
The book also forces me to look into a mirror and examine my reaction to other’s suffering. Do I speak Truth rooted in God’s word, on a foundation of love? Do I speak quickly because the pain and the “unanswerable question” leave me uncomfortable? Am I quietly listening and allowing grief to happen? Am I walking beside my brothers and sisters in a way that is “…worthy of the calling to which I was called…” (Eph 4:1-3)
What We DO Know
Job teaches us that hardship does not directly correlate with wrongdoing. It teaches us that God is patient with our mourning, grief and questions. He does not turn a blind eye to our pain. He does not depend on our righteous acts to appease Him into offering blessings. (See Matt 7:11)
While we might not have the answer, Scripture gives us plenty of insight about walking with each other. The instructions give us action steps (but none of those steps happen to be “speak really quickly about things you haven’t walked through…”) Here are just a few examples.
- Pursue things that lead to peace and building up each other. Rom 14:19
- Be forgiving. Col 3:13
- Bear with one another. Diligently seek unity. Eph 4:2-3
- Abhor evil. Rom 12:9
- Don’t be too proud to walk with someone you perceive as “lower than you.” Rom 12:16
- Do not be defeated by evil, but overcome evil with good. Rom 12:21
- Use words to build one another up. Eph 4:29
- Hold each other accountable. Help the weak. Be patient with all. 1 Thess 5:14
- Admit wrongdoing to each other, pray for one another. Jas 5:16
Moving Forward From Job
I know many of us are wrestling with tough questions right now (and not only because we’ve read through Job.) We may not have the closure we desire, but we do serve a God who is bigger than our understanding. We do serve a God who allows us to be stewards of his grace, to show His ways to the world, to tell others that there is hope beyond unanswerable questions and the senseless grief of this world. He is a God who allows us to be part of His action.
As we face a hurting world, let’s remember to listen a little better. Not “reason away” bad circumstances. Let’s be proactive with the gifts God has given each one of us to create unity in the Body, care for the weak, and expand the Kingdom of Christ on earth.
If this confession and reflection touched your heart, please share! I’d also love it if you joined me on Facebook or Instagram, to hang out with a community of awesome people who aim to live intentionally and see life through a “Christ’s Kingdom” lens.
