Job’s Suffering
I am reading in the book of Job right now for my morning time. If you know the story of Job, you know the incredible trials he went through. In one day, Job lost his wealth, his ten children, and his health. We see the play by play in chapters one and two. Chapters 3-37 record Job’s conversations with friends, his questions to God, and his heartbreak.
He uses words and phrases like “without hope,” “anguish of my spirit,” “bitterness of my soul,” and “my soul chooseth strangling and death rather than my life.” We get a glimpse into the depths of his hurt and grief. Have you ever felt the kind of feelings that correspond to some of those phrases? I could guess that you have. I know I have.
God’s Response
What’s interesting to me is that God says absolutely nothing for 34 chapters. We don’t know for sure how long Job’s suffering lasted, but we do know God did not step in right away. Why? Why would God allow Job to suffer? We know the “right” answer to that question… “God was testing him, God was proving him, God was answering Satan’s accusations.” But behind those pat answers lies a broken heart, Job’s heart. He didn’t know the story as we do. His story wasn’t written yet. The book of Job didn’t exist. He didn’t know there was a happy ending. He only knew the suffering he was enduring in the here and now, and it felt like it would destroy him.
Being Without Hope
Have you been in a place like that? Maybe you are there right now- a place where you feel without hope, and phrases like “bitterness of my soul” describe you. That’s a really hard place to be; I know because I have been there and am still there at times. When we get to a place like this, there is only one way to keep moving forward. Hope.
I’ve heard the phrase, “You can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air…but only for one second without hope.” We absolutely can not exist and certainly not move forward without hope. Hope is believing that good is going to come. It’s trusting that things are going to work out, even though it may not feel like it right now.
Hope is a Choice
Choosing
David understood this concept of choosing hope. The Psalms are full of verses about hope. Here are just a few to think about.
Be of good courage, and he shall strengthen your heart, all ye that hope in the Lord. Psalm 31:24
And now, Lord, what
wait I for? my hope is in thee. Psalm 39:7Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God. Psalm 42:11
For thou art my hope, O Lord God: thou art my trust from my youth. Psalm 71:5
Satan can wreak havoc in our lives, but do you know what he can’t take away? Our hope. Do you know what Satan can’t stop? A woman who truly hopes in God, who truly believes that everything she is going through is just for a season. She knows God will get her through. That kind of woman is unstoppable because life’s circumstances can’t get her down.
Choosing Hope
My husband Matt just released his book, Breakthrough: Turning the Death of a Dream into the Birth of a Breakthrough. It’s our story interwoven with a study of the life of Joseph. It’s all about this concept, holding on to hope when your dreams come crashing down. If you are struggling to hold on to hope, I know this book would be a huge encouragement to you. You can grab the paperback copy here or the ebook here.
In his book, he uses a phrase that we have come back to time and time again. “This is a moment in your life; this is not the rest of your life.” When we get discouraged and feel like things will never change, we have to remember this is just a moment in our lives. Things won’t be this way forever.
Choosing hope is choosing to believe that God is not done with you yet. It’s trusting that he is working all things for your good and this breaking of you will be the making of you.
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