Faith in the Midst of Pain

Praising God in the Midst of Pain
Job 1-2
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I shall return there. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. Blessed by the name of the Lord.”
In a matter of a few minutes, Job lost everything. The story of Job begins with an affirmation of his wealth and prosperity. Written near or before the arrival of Abraham, Job was a man of incredible wealth. Most scholars suggest that the land of Uz was located southeast of the Land of Israel and south of the Jordan River. So great was his wealth that he was regarded as one of the greatest of all the men of the east (1:3). However, unlike many, his wealth did not cloud or distort his faith in God. He was not only unparalleled in his riches, but more importantly, he was unequaled in his faith and trust in God. Not only was he a man of faith, but he also led his family in worshiping God. So remarkable was his faith that even God testified to his righteousness. In response, Satan, ever the accuser of the brethren, argued that his faith was only because of his prosperity and that he was allowed to take away all his blessings; then Job’s faith would wither. What is remarkable to note in this interchange between God and Satan is that Satan is powerless to assault God’s people apart from God’s permission. To prove the depth of Job’s faith, God allowed Satan to take anything and everything away from Job, except life itself.
We can imagine that Job’s day started like any other day. He arose in the morning, perhaps spent time in worship, and then set about his day of leading his vast business holdings. However, suddenly everything changed. It began with the arrival of a messenger to inform him that the Sabeans had attacked and stolen all his oxen and donkeys. Then, in an onslaught of disaster, in the next few moments, more servants arrived with news that other marauding bands of thieves had taken all his other livestock and possessions. Then the apex of disaster. A servant arrived with the news that a great wind had struck the house where his children were meeting, and all of them were killed. For Job, this could only mean one thing: that God himself had turned his hand against him. In less than an hour, Job’s world and life were utterly devastated. To make matters even worse, Job himself was afflicted with painful boils, “from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head.”  This only further confirmed that God had turned against him. It appeared to all that the man who had placed his complete trust in God and faithfully worshiped God was now the object of God’s unjust wrath and punishment. The only thing left in his life was a bitter wife whose only words of comfort were “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die!” (2:9). In his moment of crisis, three friends arrived. The depth of their love and compassion for Job is seen in the fact that they came and “sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they sat that his pain was very great.”  For all the failures of Job’s friends to understand God’s purpose, the one thing we cannot question is their love and compassion for Job. A true friend grieves with you in your pain.
In the first two chapters, we see four critical truths. First, we see that God allows even the righteous to suffer. God does not promise us freedom from adversity even when we are walking by faith. Second, Job’s friends deeply cared about Job. They came to comfort Job, not attack him in his sorrow. Third, we learn that God allows adversity to come even upon the righteous. At the very beginning of the story, the veil is pulled away, and we see that suffering comes even upon the righteous. Last, we see the depth of Job’s faith. Even though Job experienced unimaginable grief and lost, he remained resolute in his trust and faith in God. Amid his unthinkable pain, he still praised God and refused to capitulate to bitterness. Perhaps the greatest act of worship is not the praise we offer to God when we experience his blessing, but the praise we give when we experience deep suffering and pain. It is then that our faith becomes real.