WHEN GOD’S PEOPLE SUFFER

TEXT: JOB 31:24-32

🔑KEY VERSE “Neither have I suffered my mouth to sin by wishing a curse to his soul” (JOB 31:30)

Why? Why me? Why my family? What is the meaningc of this suffering? These are familiar questions asked by Christians and non-christians alike. No one is immune to suffering and adversity. “Man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7).

In what looks like a wrap up of his case before God eventually answered him, Job enumerated his righteous deeds in the passage under consideration. His trust was entirely on God and not on enormous wealth. He was not the kind of person that rejoices at the destruction of his enemies. He took strangers in and caused the mouths of the widows and the fatherless to rejoice through his compassion and care. His major dilemma is the reality that such a man like him could suffer so much despite his righteous ways.

Good people sometimes suffer as much as the bad. The reasonable expectation is that good people should not suffer like the wicked because they did not deserve to. They charted the path of justice, equity and truth. While others were living carelessly, they governed their lives with righteous principles. First, you must understand that certain things are too complex for the mortal man to understand. We cannot fully understand why some things happen until we get to the other side of eternity. Job, for instance, didn’t understand that his sufferings were occasioned by the devil, not God. And that God allowed it to prove to Satan that he was not serving Him because he was blessed. He was in service to God because of who God is to him.

When we suffer, we should not despair or give up faith in God. The Lord will give us grace to endure in times of trials and suffering.

✍THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Our God is beyond human comprehension.

BIBLE IN A YEAR: JOB 1-6.

MEDITATION: Why did God call Job a perfect man? Job 1:1

1. None of his possessions was a source of his confidence, v24. For example, many wealthy people think their money power answers all things. Some, their positions gave them a lot of confidence.
2. His prosperity was never a source of his joy, v25. His joy directly came from the Lord at all times.
3. Worshipping the sun and the moon was the vogue when he lived. He never succumbed or conform to worldliness and the morally questionable vogue of his time, v25,26.
4. In addition to physically abstaining from worldliness, his heart was also detached from secret love for those worldly fashion, vogue and vanities, vv27,28.
5. He did not rejoice, either privately or publicly, when evil happens to his avowed enemies, v29.
6. He neither wished them evil nor cursed his enemies either overtly or in his heart, v30.
7. Hospitality to strangers and succor to the needy were his watchword vv30,31.
   Remarks: Honestly check if there is any of the above you are found wanting. Christian perfection is possible and attainable, Matthew 5:48

PRAYERS

1. Passionately ask for grace on any of the areas you are found wanting🙏
2. Lord, give me the perfection that will sincerely love my enemies to the point of praying for them🙏
3. Lord, let the blood of Jesus detach me from the love of the world🙏
4. Lord, let the desire to be more conformed to Your image be our heart cry as christians🙏

HYMN

OH TO BE LIKE THEE