Beyond Our Questions

When in a small prayer group meeting with a professor, she said, “Sometimes God removes our pain, and sometimes He won't.” I was not happy with the statement. I want God to remove the pain when we bring it to God. She said God can replace some goodness in its place, and we eventually forget.

I got my answers clearly when I read Job. Job lost all his children and was not to be consoled. All he got was his life and his wife. He wanted answers from God. His arguments were really good! In Job chapter 21, he says as follows in verse 4: “My quarrel is not with mortal men; I have a good reason to be impatient.” Then he keeps on asking why evil people are well-off, whereas he is in immense pain after living an upright life before God.

After that, in the next chapter too, in Job 23, he says in verse 2, “I still rebel and complain against God; I can't hold back my groaning.” How I wish I knew where to find Him and present all the arguments in my favour.

His loss made him afraid of God, as we see in verses 16 and 17. It says," It is God, not the dark, that makes me afraid.

How difficult life would be if we were afraid of God instead of being satisfied in His love!

Most often, Satan hides himself in our troubled times but makes us stand in opposition to God. We end up asking so many whys! Here, he started the trouble by hurting Job, but he was out of the scene, and the story unfolds as a war between Job and God.

Hey, friend, in our pain, do we end up fighting with God for justice over things we don't understand?

For God answered Job. Yes, but in His right time. Did God take his pain away by giving back the same children he lost? Oops! Sadly, that's not how it works with Him. Even though the pain was not taken away, Job no longer argued with God to plead his case. Job got something beyond what he wanted: the understanding of God.

When it was God's time to answer, He didn't answer all of Job's questions but showed him to whom he was posing questions. Job couldn't believe he had talked so much about someone whom he actually knew less than he had ever thought.

When the glory of God was revealed, when the presence of God came and visited Job, he couldn't talk anymore. He said in Job 40:3, “I spoke foolishly, Lord. What can I answer?”

Hey, friend, certain times in life bring us questions that we want to ask God. But never let Satan deceive you by saying you are God's target. God is never on the side of the opposition. Instead, may we ask God to reveal who He is to us. When we know Him, we can never get stuck in painful losses.

Dear God, may You open our eyes to see how mighty You are. May we learn about who our God is and how mighty He is! May we never end up asking, regretting, and losing hope when we face losses like Job. May we know that our Redeemer lives. May we find ourselves in Your presence throughout the day.

In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.