Where Is God When We Suffer?

• Why do people suffer?

• What does God do about it?

But no one says, “Where is God my Maker, who gives songs in the night?”
Job 35:10

Of all the people in the Bible, no one suffered more than Job. He had a lot to lose: seven sons, three daughters, 7,000 sheep, 3,000 camels, 500 oxen, 500 donkeys, and servants galore. And one day he lost it all, every bit of it.

Job knew God was allowing him to suffer, but he couldn’t understand why. He’d always lived righteously and had served God. Job had no way of knowing that Satan was trying to break him and that God was showing Satan he couldn’t. That’s why Job wondered aloud why God had abandoned him. He didn’t realize God was right there with him, suffering alongside his beloved servant.

For God, watching Job suffer must have been a terrible preview of watching his own Son on the cross. As part of Jesus’ sacrifice, he had to take on the sins of the entire world. For one horrific moment, Jesus became sin on the cross. And God, because he is holy and cannot look on sin, allowed the punishment and sacrifice for all sin to be completed before he brought his Son back into his presence.

God will not always make pain go away, but he will always comfort you in the midst of it. He will not abandon you, just as he did not abandon Job.

PRAYER
Dear God, you know everything that happens to us and every emotion we feel. Remind us of your love when our pain makes it difficult for us to remember. Thank you for your loving concern. Amen.