Bible Passage: “In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.” (Job 1:1-2 NIV)
Scripture Reading: Job 1:13-22; Ecclesiastes 7:14
You may not know Horatio Spafford, but you likely know his work.
A 19th-century American Christian, he sent his wife and 4 daughters on a ship to Europe. While sailing, the ship tragically sank; his wife survived, but all 4 daughters perished.
Horatio received a telegram from his wife, safe in England, saying simply, “Saved alone.”
He rushed onto the next ship to go to her, and when his journey reached the place where his daughters’ ship had gone down, his heart was deeply moved by the mixture of devastating grief and strengthening faith stirring within him.
He found himself jotting down these words, which would live on forever in a well-known musical anthem of the Church:
When peace, like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,
“It is well, it is well with my soul.”
Sometimes, for no reason, life falls apart.
There are times when our sorrows result from our own actions or those of others. These times are difficult, but at least we can explain them.
Then there are other seasons, where suffering comes for no apparent reason.
Men like answers; we want to make sense of things. A + B = C, and it should always equal C. We value clarity, and we want matters settled; even if out of our control, things should make sense.
But suffering doesn’t always do this. It does not neatly fit our preconceived ideas of fairness and justice, or of the goodness of God.
Why do bad things happen to good men?
The truth is, we are not promised an answer on this side of Heaven. We may get one, but we are not guaranteed it (Ecclesiastes 7:14).
No one knows this better than the biblical figure Job.
Other than Christ, there may be no one else in Scripture who suffers more. For chapter after chapter in the book that bears his name, we see a man in the depths of unfair suffering, wrestling with God for answers and meaning amid his pain.
This week, we will dive into his story.
We may never be men who literally suffer as much as Job did, but we can learn much from the God-breathed story of his unjust suffering, and find God’s wisdom and strength for how we grapple with our own.
Prayer: Lord, I don’t always understand why bad things happen. Some things have happened in my life that don’t make sense. Help me to trust you, even when I don’t understand. Amen.
Reflection: What is something that has happened in your life where you suffered in a way that didn’t make any sense to you? Looking back, what is something good or helpful that you learned during that time?
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