In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
His sons used to hold feasts in their homes on their birthdays, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them. When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would make arrangements for them to be purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” This was Job’s regular custom.
One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came with them. The Lord said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”
Satan answered the Lord, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. “Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord.
One day when Job’s sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, a messenger came to Job and said, “The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, and the Sabeans attacked and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The fire of God fell from the heavens and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, “The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and made off with them. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, “Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing. (Job 1:1-22 NIV)
There’s one word that we probably say to God more than any other word. Do you know what it is? “Why?” You ask God that question. I bet you ask God that question a lot! What are your “whys”? “Why does it hurt? Why did the cancer come back? Why doesn’t she love me? Why do I feel this way? Why can’t I get a job? Why did he die?…” One of the most perplexing aspects of being a Christian is realizing that believers in God face lots of suffering on earth. Why?
There’s a whole book in the Bible about that. The story of Job addresses that question: Why do believers in God suffer so much? Every Christian needs to hear this. We don’t know exactly when Job lived. From his story, it sounds like he lived a really long time ago. Maybe in the days of Abraham—about 2000 B.C. He lived in Uz, which was to the southeast of Israel. Here’s what we know about Job: “This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil…. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” Job sounds like a really great guy!
The story starts off the way you’d expect. Job trusted in God, and God blessed him. I mean, God really blessed him! Did you hear all the stuff Job had? “He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys.” Wow! I can’t get over the three thousand camels. Do you know how much a camel costs? $10,000! That’s $30 million just in camels! On top of all of that physical wealth, Job was spiritually wealthy. He offered sacrifices for his children, thinking, “Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” Who says that? Job was a righteous man.
So far so good, right? Isn’t this a nice story? No. Out of the blue, righteous Job had the worst day ever. First, a servant came with the news that thieves had stolen his 500 donkeys and 500 yoke of oxen and murdered his servants. Then, before that man finished talking, another servant ran up and reported that fire from heaven had burned up his 7,000 sheep. But before the second servant even finished, a third came to report that more raiders had seized his 3,000 camels and killed more servants. Boom. Boom. Boom. One moment, Job was the wealthiest man in the world. Then it was all gone. What would that be like today? Cars…life savings…job…house…all gone!
What did he have left? As he heard shock after shock, I bet Job was thinking, “At least I’ve got my kids. I’m okay as long as I have my kids.” How often don’t we think that? But while the third messenger was still speaking, “another messenger came and said, ‘Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother’s house, when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead!” Wow. The worst day. That puts our suffering into perspective, doesn’t it? Now what?
When you hear the story of Job, I bet a lot of you see the story of your life. You’ve faced suffering. Everyone does! Unexpected. Unexplained. Out of the blue. Boom. And it’s usually not just one thing, right? People say that bad things come in threes. Boom! Boom! Boom! Even as a Christian, you find yourself wavering, maybe even doubting God’s promises. “God loves me… He loves me not… He loves me… But how could he did this?” In your low moments, you shout to God, “God, why did you allow this? God, why don’t you do something about this? Why?”
Here’s what’s unique about the book of Job: We get to see behind the scenes, like we never get to do in our lives. We get to see the “why.” It’s surprising! One day, Satan went into the presence of the LORD. And the LORD said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.” What a compliment—from God himself! But what did Satan say? “Does Job fear God for nothing?… Stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.” “God, you’re foolish. Job doesn’t really love you. He only loves the stuff you give him.”
The devil is convinced that people only believe in God when he blesses them. He thinks people only pretend to love God to get something in return. Is that true? Ask yourself, “Does my faith depend on what God gives me? When things don’t go well, do I still trust in Jesus?” Do you? I have to admit that Satan is often right about me. I trust in God hoping to get good things, and I complain to God when troubles come: “Why?” Do you? That’s not faith. That’s sin! Do you love God or the stuff you want from God? Trials reveal the truth about our hearts. “God, why?”
So here’s what God said, “Test him. Everything he has is in your power, but on the man himself do not lay a finger.” There was a reason for Job’s suffering, and it wasn’t you might think. Job’s suffering wasn’t a punishment. In fact, God had just praised Job for his faith! God hadn’t abandoned Job. In fact, God was holding Job up as an example for believers everywhere. It felt to Job like God was against him, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth. God was for Job. God loved Job so much that he was willing to test Job’s faith. God already knew exactly what the outcome was going to be. The truth was the opposite of how it looked on the outside.
But here’s the thing: Job didn’t know that. Through all 42 chapters of the book of Job, God never explained to Job what he was doing. We get to see the “why.” Job never did. Isn’t that how God often works? He doesn’t tell us the “why.” Know why? We don’t need to know “why” to trust in God. In fact, that’s all part of the test of faith. God asked Job to trust in him even when life was hard. Even when it seemed like God was against him. Even when it looked like trusting in God made his life worse. Why? Because that’s faith. It’s being certain of what we cannot see.
Isn’t this so good for us to hear? When you face trials, there are things going on behind the scenes that you and I can’t see. God is working on your behalf in ways you can’t possibly imagine. God has a grand plan for you that you can’t possibly guess. When Christians suffer, when you suffer, it’s not that God is against you. Satan is! But God isn’t. He’s teaching you to live by faith. Because that’s what life’s all about, right? Whoever believes in Jesus will have eternal life. It’s an act of God’s grace whenever he teaches us to live by faith. Can you see that?
So what did Job do? On this worst day imaginable… After losing everything… What did Job do? “Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.” Three of those actions make perfect sense. One of them sounds totally out of place. Job tore his robe. Job shaved his head. Job fell to the ground. Job worshipped. What? That doesn’t fit, does it? Yes, it does! Job didn’t worship God for what he got from him. He worshipped God for who God is. That’s true worship. See the difference? Was Job happy? No! He was in excruciating agony. But did Job continue to trust in God? Yes. “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”
Can you see why believers in God have gravitated to this book of Job? It so honestly shows what life is like. Are there moments of God’s blessing? Absolutely! There are days, months, maybe even years when life is good. That’s great! Be grateful for God’s blessings, because in a moment, in one day, everything can change. From joy to pain. From peace to conflict. From light to darkness. But through it all, the story of Job teaches us this powerful truth: God is good, all the time, even when his goodness is hidden in sorrow. God gives us the good and the bad. God gives us the glad and the sad. And God asks us to trust in him at all times, even through tears. Job did.
Because Job could see the big picture. In the middle of his suffering, Job said some of the most beautiful words in the Bible: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19:25-27). Job knew when his suffering would end: In heaven. How could he be sure? His Redeemer lives. Job was going to see God in heaven. And he couldn’t wait! “I know that my Redeemer lives…”
When we’re suffering, how often don’t we shout out to God, “Why don’t you come down here and see for yourself what this is like?” Know God’s answer? “I did.” Jesus came and suffered for us. We said that Job’s day was the worst day ever. That’s not really true. There was one day even worse: Good Friday. On Good Friday, Jesus didn’t just lose everything. He suffered the wrath of God for every sin. He suffered the pain and torment of hell for us. So that on your worst days, Jesus says, “I know what that’s like. I’m with you. I forgive you. I love you. Soon it’ll be over!”
You can trust in him! A visitor at a school for the deaf was writing questions on the board for the deaf children. One of the questions he wrote was this: “Why has God made me able to hear and made you deaf?” The children sat paralyzed, pondering that dreadful word, “Why?” Then a little girl stood up. With her eyes swimming with tears, she walked up to the board. Picking up the chalk, she wrote with a steady hand these precious words from Jesus: “Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do” (Matthew 11:26). What a reply to every trial in life! Why? Because this is what my loving Father was pleased to do. It’s not chance. It is the work of God your loving Father in heaven. You can trust him, even when you don’t understand why.
Like Horatio Spafford. Have you heard of him? Horatio Spafford was a wealthy lawyer from Chicago. God blessed Horatio with a beautiful wife and four young daughters. But, in the blink of an eye, it all changed. In 1873, Horatio decided to move his family to England. He sent his family ahead of him on a ship, except another ship broadsided them in the middle of the ocean. Horatio’s four daughters all drowned. His wife sent him a forlorn telegram: “Saved alone.”
So Horatio immediately boarded a ship to join his wife in England. Three days into the journey, they passed the very place where his daughters had drowned. As Horatio gazed out over the icy sea, he ran to his room and wrote a poem to God: “When peace, like a river, attends my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll – whatever my lot, you have taught me to say: It is well, it is well with my soul.” “My sin – oh the joy of this glorious thought – my sin, not in part, but the whole, is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more: Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!”
Some days all you can do is tear your robe and shave your head and fall down on your knees and worship. “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”
(To listen to this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior podcast, please click HERE. To watch this sermon on my Upside-Down Savior YouTube channel, please click on the link below.)
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