Have you had a “what’s up with that” moment in your reading lately? If so, this is your place to share it. Type in the Bible reference and verse in the “Post a Question” tab above, and we’ll do our best to answer what might be up with that. Due to the number of questions submitted, we may not get to every question, but we’ll l try to get to ones that are most common.
Great question!
You are correct–in the person of Job, we find someone who wrestles with God amid deep confusion and pain. He wonders why God refuses to answer him, and why God has brought this pain to Him. He wonders where God is at. He laments that his treatment does not seem just. He struggles to find meaning in his suffering. He wonders why the wicked seem to be getting a free pass. He grieves over having to live. On and on he wrestles.
But Job refuses to curse God and accuse Him of wrongdoing (Job 1:22, 2:9-10). Even in his lamenting, his desire was to honor God. As he says in Job 16:15-17, “I have sewed sackcloth over my skin and buried my brow in the dust. My face is red with weeping, deep shadows ring my eyes; yet my hands have been free of violence and my prayer is pure.”
In Job, we learn that it is possible to lament, wrestle, grieve, and question God, not in place of obedience, but alongside of it.
Matt Rusten, Pastor of Spiritual Formation
RSS Feed