Week 5

Have you ever considered that death is one way God protects the godly from evil? Listen to this verse…
“The righteous pass away; the godly often die before their time. And no one seems to care or wonder why. No one seems to understand that God is protecting them from the evil to come. For the godly who die will rest in peace.” Isaiah 57:1-2

Nancy Guthrie writes, “There is no tragedy in being ushered quickly from this life to the next when that next life is spent in the presence of God. There is nothing to fear. The only real tragedy is a life that ends without the hope of eternal life in the presence of God,” (pg. 59). She reminds us that one of God’s purposes for suffering is to create in us a longing for and hope of Heaven. She calls that hope a privilege of suffering.

If you’ve lost someone dear to you, you know what she means. Thoughts of our loved one being in the very presence of our amazing God causes us to think more of the eternal than perhaps we had before. It deepens our hope and faith, as well as our longing to be there with God, also. If you’ve had a loved one die without Christ, you know the deep pain and difficulty that goes with that, too – and you probably also know God’s amazing care and comfort through that sorrow.

That hope and confidence we have in God rarely lines up with how we feel at the time, but it makes a difference in how we grieve and how we live.

Job knew God – he knew God’s character and he thought he knew what to expect from God. He was willing to accept the suffering, but he struggled to accept and understand what seemed to be God’s silence.

When God finally did speak, He didn’t answer Job’s question. He didn’t immediately rebuke Job’s friends. In fact, He didn’t even directly address Job’s situation. Instead, He pointed the men to Himself. WHO God is makes all the difference. Because of WHO He is, we have living hope. Because of WHO He is, we have peace with God. Because of WHO He is, we can have “a faith that is determined to trust Him when He has not answered all the questions, when we have not heard the voice from the whirlwind,” (Nancy Guthrie, pg. 73).

As a Christian, the difference in living with hope and living without it is found in how well we listen. Remember how God comforted and spoke to Elijah? 1 Kings 19:11-13 tells us how God came to Elijah… “…A great and mighty wind was tearing at the mountains and was shattering cliffs before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there was a voice, a soft whisper. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out…”

Elijah recognized God’s voice. Do you? Sometimes, I’m too noisy to hear it. If I really want God’s comfort and peace, I must be still and listen for His voice speaking to me through His Word. My question will not then be “Why?” but “Who?”
In times of suffering, are you willing to slow down and listen to the One whose voice calmed the sea? Are you willing to seek out more of who He is? Are you willing to lay aside the need to know why? Knowing WHO will answer that question, too!