I have never been fond of the book of Job. I am not fond of suffering. I am sure that I studied the book of Job as part of my biblical studies at Multnomah University and then promptly tucked it away in the recesses of my mind.
As a young person, I did go through mild periods of suffering depending on ones definition of suffering, however, now as my years continue, I have seen many friends in the throws of suffering.It is going on two years since I have been attending the Alzheimer's support group at my church. I originally went with the sole purpose of getting out of the house. I had just lost my job and I after all had been taking care of a lady with Alzheimer's for five years.
Attending, I have found encouragement on all fronts and consider it a blessing to be in the company of those who are suffering and struggling in their care for a loved one. The greatest impact on my life has been the devotionals, most that are related to the struggles in the care we give.
We have recently been going through some studies from the book of Job.
Ryan Dougherty has been presenting some very deep thoughts from that book.
We were excited and encouraged by Ryan to view Job's suffering in a different light.
The question was posed as to why Job's friends got so much attention and how can this book be more meaningful to us in our situation.
We looked at chapter 28 wisdom as being the focal point of the whole book, being that no amount of effort, even as demanding as mining for precious treasures, will let us understand the depths of God's wisdom. There is a limit to what we can understand when entering in to the realm of the deeper, hidden, mysteries of what God is doing behind the scenes. In the challenges of caring for our loved ones, we can get trapped into the "what ifs" and we try to apply the practical type of wisdom found in the Proverbs which is understandable to all. The divine wisdom necessary to explain suffering is sometimes inaccessible to man. (Last month)
This month, Ryan continued our study in Job. We explored the source of Jobs suffering because God was contesting Satan, however, Job nor his friends knew it at the time and were attempting to explain it from their earthly perspectives.
God's perspective was that he knew what was going on and had everything under control of Job's situation.
From Job' s perspective he is wondering if his suffering is because he had done something wrong. Then in Job 9:33, a turning point, Job is beginning to understand that he needs a mediator, an advocate. Job 16:18.
Job 19:23,25, We learned that there is a redemptive purpose to what is happening in our suffering. Suffering helps us understand that we have a Redeemer, a hope in the after life. SUFFERING HAS A REDEMPTIVE PURPOSE.
So my involvement led to my present job as well as contributing to the newsletter we put out each month. So does that make me an editor?
I would encourage those of you who are living within the distance of Grace Church to join us in encouraging each other through your presence.
You don't need to have a loved one to attend. You can adopt one.
We were left with the reminder to visit the basic message: "There is a limit to wisdom." The final word on wisdom is that some wisdom is not accessible to us with a need for a Redeemer/Mediator.
ReplyDeleteJob's friends are a prime example of human wisdom with its folly. No amount of analyzing the suffering, looking for answers, causes, and solutions will yield answers.
Understanding wisdom from the Animal Kingdom, (Job 39), helps us to understand the order that is at the heart of wisdom, reaffirming the fact that things that seem out of control are still in God's control.
In the end, the lesson learned was that we may never know specific reasons for suffering but one must trust in a sovereign God. There are times when the compelling issue in suffering is unknowable because it is for a heavenly purpose that those on earth cannot discern.