Pray:
Almighty God, I bow before You and acknowledge You are holy, wise and good.
Read:
Job 42:1-17
Reflect:
What did Job learn?
It's easy to get lost in the last part of the story (7-17), which is written in a similar form to the story's beginning (1,2). Job's wrestle with God and the problem of suffering is vindicated, and his friends' attempts to engage with the issue rationally are condemned by God (7,8).
But the key to the question about how to live in a suffering world is found in the first six verses, which continue the poetic style of the core of the book. In these verses, Job acknowledges God's superiority (2) and, crucially, that there are things beyond human comprehension (3).
Our response to a world where suffering, from our perspective, seems to reign unchecked, can be despair or anger. Or, like Job, we can reject ("despise," 6) our vision of the universe and embrace a new, overarching way of seeing. This new way is based on seeing God for who he really is (5) and living on the basis of that vision.
Apply:
Consider God's good purposes in what makes no sense in your circumstances.
Pray:
Father, continually reveal Your heart to me and teach me to trust You.
