10 Profound Lessons to Learn from the Long Term Suffering of Job
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7. DON'T BE SURPRISED BY THE SENSE OF DISTANCE FROM GOD IN THE MIDST OF YOUR SUFFERING
Job felt it. He felt is very keenly. Here is what he says in Job 10:2-3: "I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. 3 Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favour the designs of the wicked?
Job is saying, I feel condemned God. I feel rejected. I feel like I am going to be entreated as a wicked one when I am your friend and I love you.
And we also read Job speaking of God in Job 13:21 saying, "withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me."
What Job is saying here is that, I am terrified by you God. And so Job is feeling that God is his enemy.
In Job 19:6 we also read the following word from Job: "know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me." Have you ever felt like you have been caught into a net by the circumstances of life? And of course, God controls all those circumstances.
In Job 19:7, Job says, "Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice."
Job is saying, "Oh God, there is no justice! Oh God, you are not even listening, Oh God, the heavens are just like brass: my prayers just bounce off." That is exactly what Job is feeling.
Look also at what Job says in Job 23:3-4, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments."
Job here thinks that God is not even present. He thinks God has left. He is not there to listen to him. "If I could just find Him", Job says, "I would sit down and I put my case before Him."
In Job 29:3-5 Job is reflecting on his past and he says, "when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light, I walked through darkness, 4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, 5 when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me"
And so everything that Job remembers from the past is not what he is experiencing in the present and he is wondering, "Where have all those things gone? Where have all those blessings gone?" He feels God is no longer with him.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a wonderful summary of what the scripture teaches in the chapter in the Westminster Confession on the assurance of faith. There is a very realistic depiction of what true believers can go through. And it says this, "True believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse ways [diverse means in many different ways] shaken, diminished and intermittent [stopped for a period]". How can someone have their assurance diminished or stopped or shaken? Here are some of the ways through which this can happen: "... by negligence in preserving of it [ah, we can be responsible for negligence], by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit, by some sudden temptations, [and now we've got another one, you know those are things we say, well that's what I can contribute and now the confession says] by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance in suffering or allowing even such as fear Him [like in the case of Job, 'there is no one like him, he fears me, turns away from evil'] to walk in darkness and to have no light, yet [does God just leave people with no light?] are they not utterly destitute of that seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscious of duty out of which by the operations of the Spirit; this assurance may in due time be revived and by the which in the meantime, they are supported from utter dEspair. Was Job in despair? Yes. Was he in utter despair? No. God protected him.
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7. DON'T BE SURPRISED BY THE SENSE OF DISTANCE FROM GOD IN THE MIDST OF YOUR SUFFERING
Job felt it. He felt is very keenly. Here is what he says in Job 10:2-3: "I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me. 3 Does it seem good to you to oppress, to despise the work of your hands and favour the designs of the wicked?
Job is saying, I feel condemned God. I feel rejected. I feel like I am going to be entreated as a wicked one when I am your friend and I love you.
And we also read Job speaking of God in Job 13:21 saying, "withdraw your hand far from me, and let not dread of you terrify me."
What Job is saying here is that, I am terrified by you God. And so Job is feeling that God is his enemy.
In Job 19:6 we also read the following word from Job: "know then that God has put me in the wrong and closed his net about me." Have you ever felt like you have been caught into a net by the circumstances of life? And of course, God controls all those circumstances.
In Job 19:7, Job says, "Behold, I cry out, 'Violence!' but I am not answered; I call for help, but there is no justice."
Job is saying, "Oh God, there is no justice! Oh God, you are not even listening, Oh God, the heavens are just like brass: my prayers just bounce off." That is exactly what Job is feeling.
Look also at what Job says in Job 23:3-4, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him, that I might come even to his seat! I would lay my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments."
Job here thinks that God is not even present. He thinks God has left. He is not there to listen to him. "If I could just find Him", Job says, "I would sit down and I put my case before Him."
In Job 29:3-5 Job is reflecting on his past and he says, "when his lamp shone upon my head, and by his light, I walked through darkness, 4 as I was in my prime, when the friendship of God was upon my tent, 5 when the Almighty was yet with me, when my children were all around me"
And so everything that Job remembers from the past is not what he is experiencing in the present and he is wondering, "Where have all those things gone? Where have all those blessings gone?" He feels God is no longer with him.
The Westminster Confession of Faith is a wonderful summary of what the scripture teaches in the chapter in the Westminster Confession on the assurance of faith. There is a very realistic depiction of what true believers can go through. And it says this, "True believers may have the assurance of their salvation diverse ways [diverse means in many different ways] shaken, diminished and intermittent [stopped for a period]". How can someone have their assurance diminished or stopped or shaken? Here are some of the ways through which this can happen: "... by negligence in preserving of it [ah, we can be responsible for negligence], by falling into some special sin which wounds the conscience and grieves the Spirit, by some sudden temptations, [and now we've got another one, you know those are things we say, well that's what I can contribute and now the confession says] by God's withdrawing the light of his countenance in suffering or allowing even such as fear Him [like in the case of Job, 'there is no one like him, he fears me, turns away from evil'] to walk in darkness and to have no light, yet [does God just leave people with no light?] are they not utterly destitute of that seed of God and life of faith, that love of Christ and the brethren, that sincerity of heart and conscious of duty out of which by the operations of the Spirit; this assurance may in due time be revived and by the which in the meantime, they are supported from utter dEspair. Was Job in despair? Yes. Was he in utter despair? No. God protected him.
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