In Search Of: Making Sense of Suffering
Mark Estepp - 4/18/2021
Job 1:6-19
Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them.
7 The Lord said to Satan, “From where have you come?” Satan answered the Lord and said, “From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking up and down on it.”
8 And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil?”
9 Then Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for no reason?
10 Have you not put a hedge around him and his house and all that he has, on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land.
11 But stretch out your hand and touch all that he has, and he will curse you to your face.”
12 And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your hand. Only against him do not stretch out your hand.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
13 Now there was a day when his sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
14 and there came a messenger to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them,
15 and the Sabeans fell upon them and took them and struck down the servants[c] with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
16 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The fire of God fell from heaven and burned up the sheep and the servants and consumed them, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
17 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “The Chaldeans formed three groups and made a raid on the camels and took them and struck down the servants with the edge of the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
18 While he was yet speaking, there came another and said, “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother's house,
19 and behold, a great wind came across the wilderness and struck the four corners of the house, and it fell upon the young people, and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you.”
Job 2:7-8
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and struck Job with loathsome sores from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. 8 And he took a piece of broken pottery with which to scrape himself while he sat in the ashes.
3 Philosophies on Suffering
Job 2:9-10
Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” 10 But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.
1. Cynicism - Pointless
Job 4:7-8
“Remember: who that was innocent ever perished? Or where were the upright cut off?
8 As I have seen, those who plow iniquity and sow trouble reap the same.
2. Moralism - Punishment
Job 23:10
But he knows the way that I take; when he has tried me, I shall come out as gold.
3. Hidden - Purifying
Invitation to:
Trust
If a man dies, shall he live again? All the days of my service I would wait, till my renewal should come.
Develop Integrity
Job 27:5-6
Far be it from me to say that you are right; till I die I will not put away my integrity from me.
6 I hold fast my righteousness and will not let it go; my heart does not reproach me for any of my days.
Gain Wisdom
Job 28:20-21
“From where, then, does wisdom come? And where is the place of understanding?
21 It is hidden from the eyes of all living and concealed from the birds of the air.
Experience Victory
Job 42:5
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you
Will I lean into what’s hidden or leave bitter over what’s happened?
Job 35:9-11
“Because of the multitude of oppressions people cry out; they call for help because of the arm of the mighty.
10 But none says, ‘Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night,
11 who teaches us more than the beasts of the earth and makes us wiser than the birds of the heavens?’
My soul’s need is a song in the night.