Arguing with the Almighty

"Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?  You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?" Job 40:2

 There is nothing like a little suffering to remind you of "the problem of suffering," which some people call Theodicy.  If God loves us and is all-powerful, why would He let us suffer?  It's an interesting question when you're not suffering, but an extremely vital question when you are.  How do we walk through our own suffering, or the suffering of others, and hold on to our belief that God really cares, even though He still lets us hurt?


Maybe it's not the problem of suffering, but the problem of faith.  In the middle of our pain, it almost seems like we must deny our pain to hold on to our faith.  And that is why a lot of people get really mad at God, because it seems like He is asking the impossible.  Our pain is real.  Our faith, well, it's not quite as real.  So if we're going to believe in something, we have to believe in our pain.  If that means letting go of our faith in God, well, we seem to have no choice.

But maybe it's more than the problem of suffering or the problem of holding on to our faith.  Maybe it's the problem of perspective.  We rage against God's decisions, but do we know what it's like to be God?  We say it's obvious what is right for God to do,  but do we really have any idea what is really going on--behind the scenes, in the big picture?  God does a pretty good job of defending Himself against our blind arrogance in the last few chapters of Job.  To be honest, these chapters used to make me cringe.  I don't really like hearing sarcasm from God, especially to someone who is suffering.  I mean, after everything Job went through, God doesn't stroke his back and say, "It's going to be ok, Job, just calm down.  I'll give you more stuff."  That's because what hurts Job to his core is not the physical suffering, although that's what started it.  It's what remains if one has truly questioned God's abilities and love.  And what remains is nothing.  No hope.  No security.  No future.  Just chaos, haphazardly administrated by an incompetent god.


But God rescues Job from this hopeless abyss.  He IS powerful.  Really, can YOU do all that stuff He asks Job about--throwing lightening bolts around, making a beast as powerful and terrifying as a crocodile that breathes fire, moving the constellations around the sky, setting up the laws of the universe?  God's point is simple.  I am God.  I know what I'm doing, even when you don't.  I have all the power in the universe, but I love you and your world too much to let my power be manipulated by your small view of how things should be.  So trust Me, and take comfort.  I am God.  And you are not.


It doesn't take away the pain, but we can at least know our pain isn't pointless.  Every tear is for a precious purpose, and never taken lightly or wasted in God's economy.


A final summary from the "Mega Themes" page at the end of the book of Job in my NLT Life Application Bible:

God is all-wise and all-powerful.  His will is perfect, yet He doesn't always act in ways we understand.  Job's suffering didn't make sense because everyone believed that good people were supposed to prosper.  When Job was at the point of despair, God spoke, revealing His great power and wisdom.  Although God is present everywhere, at times He may seem far away.  This may cause us to feel alone and to doubt His care for us.  We should serve God for who He is, not for what we feel.  He is never insensitive to our suffering.  Because God is sufficient, we must hold on to Him.  This fact is greater than any feeling we might have that He has abandoned us.