This is part 1 of 2 of Lesson 7: Indestructible Hope. Click here to go back to the introduction to this lesson.
The lesson discusses the story of Job as a good introduction to trying to understand the big picture about the way God operates.I think Job’s story is a difficult one that takes a bit of unravelling. South Pacific Record Editor Nathan Brown has a good summary of the key points of this story, and his article is well worth a read as background to this week’s topic.
Click here to read Suffering’s Glorious Unanswer.
There are some interesting points raised in this article.
- In the Old Testament, we do see some texts in which God says that there will be blessings for those who follow His ways, and curses for those who don’t.
- Yet in the book of Job, we see someone undergoing great suffering despite being someone who was ‘blameless and upright’. So no wonder Job was confused.
- Of course there was a purpose for Job’s terrible trial. But we can assume that because Job had a strong relationship with God and knew what His character was, He was able to endure.
- This doesn’t mean he was at complete peace. The book of Job records many accusations and unanswered questions that he made against God. But despite this, Job clung onto his faith, a ‘bigger picture’, a dogged belief that God would right things in the end. Consider some of his more hopeful comments.
“But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will stand upon the earth at last. And after my body has decayed, yet in my body I will see God! I will see him for myself. Yes, I will see him with my own eyes. I am overwhelmed at the thought! Job 19:25-27 (NLT)
If a man dies, will he live again?
All the days of my hard service
I will wait for my renewal to come.
You will call and I will answer you;
you will long for the creature your hands have made. Job 14:14,15 (NIV)
The lesson made me think of the plight of the African American slaves. They lived difficult lives, but yet turned their attention to eternal realities and a better life to come. This was born out in their singing, their wonderful ‘Negro Spiritual’ music.
“They were singing in those days because they really had that beautiful picture of where heaven was, but they were here, being taken advantage of by the slave masters,” said Walter Moss of Philadelphia, former vice president of the National Association of Negro Musicians. Preserving the tradition of the Negro spiritual, http://www.pww.org/article/view/7094/1/270/
Consider this text from the ‘faith’ chapter in Hebrews:
All these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance….Instead, they were longing for a better country–a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them. Heb 11:13, 16 (NIV)
Whether going through an ordeal, or just making our way through a normal comfortable life, how can we turn our attention to heavenly things, to the ‘better country’? As one of our contributors, Caz, has noted, can the act of living a comfortable ‘Western’ life actually make it more difficult to focus on the important ‘big picture’?
Thinking about the ‘better country’ also made me think of a wonderful quote by Meister Eckhart: “God is at home. We are in the far country.”
That’s a great idea – we need to be more aware day to day that we are indeed in the ‘far country’, and that our real home awaits.
On to the next section The Silence of God
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