Is life unfair? Surprising answer.

Job 1-42

“Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him…” Job 13:15a (King James Version)

Life is not always fair. And there will be times when we don’t understand what God is doing nor why He is doing it. Have you ever felt like you have fallen into a pit too deep to climb out and people are throwing dirt in on top of you? Job must have felt that way when his life caved in on him.

Job was a man who always tried to do the right thing. Job 1:1b tells us, “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” You might think that such a person would, and should, have smooth sailing all through life.

God had blessed Job abundantly. He had seven sons and three daughters. He owned 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 yoke of oxen, and 500 donkeys. He had many servants as well.

One day the angels and Satan came before God. God asked Satan if he had noticed Job and how upright he was. Satan said, in essence, why wouldn’t he be good? You have given him great wealth. But if you take it all away he will curse you. God gave Satan permission to test Job by doing whatever he wished with Job’s possessions, but Satan wasn’t allowed to harm Job’s body.

Satan struck Job with a vengeance. He destroyed all of his livestock and killed all of his children. Both God and Satan were watching closely to see what Job would do. What would you have done? What do you think Job did? He fell to the ground and worshiped God. He said, “The Lord gave me everything I had, and they were his to take away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job 1:21 The Living Bible “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.” Job 1:22 NIV

God and Satan had a second conversation about Job. God bragged on Job, and Satan said if Job’s body were afflicted, Job would certainly curse God. God gave Satan permission to strike Job’s body, but he was forbidden to take Job’s life. Notice: it is God who sets the times and the limits to our trials and testing.

Satan afflicted Job with painful boils which covered his whole body. Job 2:8 give us a picture of how pitiful Job was when it says, “Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.”

Mrs. Job brought her husband no comfort. She said to him, “Are you still trying to be godly when God has done all this to you? Curse him and die.” Job 2:9 The Living Bible

Job’s friends came to visit and insisted he must have sinned for such calamity to befall him. Job told them, “What miserable comforters all of you are.” Job 16:2b The Living Bible With friends like that, Job didn’t need any enemies! This story tells us plainly that good, innocent people may suffer.

Job kept protesting his innocence and reiterating his faith in God. Since Jesus had not yet come and the resurrection had not yet taken place, Job wondered aloud, “If a man dies, shall he live again?” Job 14:14a The Living Bible Later he made this declaration of faith, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God” Job 19:25-26 NIV But, to me, Job’s most amazing statement of faith is found in Job 13:15a, “Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him.” Job passed God’s test with an A plus plus! He didn’t make the mistake many people make, letting their suffering embitter them against the only One who can help them. As a friend of mine once said, when her husband died, “I can’t afford to be made at God. I need Him too much!”

The story of Job had a happily ever after ending. God gave Job twice as much wealth as he had before. He also gave him ten more children and 140 more years in which to enjoy his children and grandchildren.

Father, may our faith in You be as strong as Job’s faith was, regardless of our circumstances. Amen.