Whether we are meticulous planners or spur-of-the-moment people, all of us can no doubt look back on times when things haven’t gone as we expected. We feel totally in control one minute, only to find everything turned upside-down the next! Perhaps no one in history embodies this better than Job. In the opening verse of the book of Job, he is described as a man who ‘was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.’ (Job 1:1) We then read of his unimaginable suffering as his wealth, his health, and even his family are taken from him. In chapter 23, Job is convinced that if he could just plead his case before God, then God would relieve him of his suffering. But he then goes on to acknowledge that no one can oppose God, but rather, ‘What he desires, that he does.’ (v13)
His story raises a challenge for us as Christians: how do we continue to trust that God is good, even when at times his will is so incomprehensible to us?
We can surely empathise with Job as we consider the depth of his suffering. His story raises a challenge for us as Christians: how do we continue to trust that God is good, even when at times his will is so incomprehensible to us? Part of the reason we struggle with this question is that we do not fully grasp how much bigger God is than us. The very first verse of the Bible tells us that ‘in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’: our God is eternal and powerful. He has witnessed all of time and has all things in his control. God reminds Job of these truths with a series of rhetorical questions beginning in chapter 38 (“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?”, etc.). We believe that we know right and wrong, and we know what God ought to do in our situation. This was Job’s mindset when he longed to approach God and make his case—as if God had missed something!
If God is worth worshipping, then he must be beyond our comprehension.
If God is worth worshipping, then he must be beyond our comprehension. That means that there are going to be events and circumstances in our lives that we cannot explain and may cause us to question how a good God could have allowed these things to happen. We must be willing to trust that God knows what is best, even when we can’t see the goodness in it. Otherwise, we are destined to be “fair-weather Christians”; accepting God’s will when it aligns with our own, or living with a half-hearted belief that God knows best, without really trusting in him when things get tough.
God has demonstrated his goodness through his word, which shows us so much of his character, and most of all in Jesus. Jesus’ earthly life was characterised by showing love, mercy and goodness to all. We can take such encouragement from the example of Jesus, who himself endured the cross ‘for the joy that was set before him’ (Hebrews 12:2). When we find ourselves questioning God’s goodness in our circumstances, let’s trust in him as Jesus did, knowing that his ways are always best.
Giles Hickling, The Church of God in Manchester
Pippa Woods is a member of the Church of God in Manchester and enjoys reading and writing (this helps her in her role as the #BeroeanLikes editor). Her sporting “excellence” can be seen in the forced fun activities at NW Teen Camp the summer. In the future she’d like to work in a profession that benefits others.
