Job 18:5 “The light of the wicked indeed goes out, And the flame of his fire does not shine.
I once had a conversation with a student who had told me that “Mr. _____ (a teacher) was really nice!” I asked, “what is it about him that makes him nice?” And the answer was, “He lets us leave class earlier!” Who says you can’t buy friends?!
Job and his companions are dealing with the incredible trouble that has come into Job’s life. They are taking turns trying to explain why they think he’s in the trouble he’s in. (We know what they don’t - that God has allowed Satan to bring trouble to show off Job’s character and commitment to God.)
Bildad (one of Job’s friends) has his turn and gives a lengthy diatribe that basically amounts to, “if a person is bad, bad things happen to them.” It makes sense. That thinking seems to have a great deal of logic and we would like to add the opposite as true also, “If a person is good, good things will happen to them.”
Certainly God is all-powerful. He could easily make this happen. But the reality is that He doesn’t deal with us this way. Did Jesus not live a good enough life? Yet He was, “despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” - Isaiah 53:3
It really is one of the most troubling things. Good people do encounter suffering. And, frankly, sometimes bad people have good things happen to them. You see, God isn’t interested in ‘buying friends.’ Sometimes we suffer as a result of our actions, sure. But sometimes the suffering has nothing to do with what we may have done or not done. Sometimes, there’s just no good answer to the “why me?”
God always has the big picture and we don’t. He didn’t promise to give us a problem-free life, but He did promise some-thing better: Himself! Jesus told His disciples that He would be going away, but that, “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” John 14:16
God’s Holy Spirit can be with us regardless of what we’re going through. Whether our suffering is physical, emotional, mental, financial, whatever! God will walk through it with us, comforting and guiding if we allow Him to. Jesus knows what it is to suffer and He will help us. With Him, we can make it!
Blessings
Pastor Russ
