This morning’s sermon is about Job, the tragedies he endured, and the fact that he remained a challenge to Satan after those tragedies had occurred. In Job 8, one of Job’s friends named Bildad is speculating as to why these terrible things had happened to Job and his family.
“Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert the right? If your children have sinned against him, he has delivered them into the hand of their transgression.” (Job 8:3-4)
For more than 30 chapters in this Old Testament book, Job’s friends try to convince him, “If you had been a good person, none of these things would have happened to you. If your children had been good people, they would still be alive. You must have done something to deserve this!” But they were wrong. In the last chapter of the book, God rebukes these men: “My anger burns against you … for you have not spoken of me what is right” (Job 42:7).
People continued to struggle with this in the days of Jesus. “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” (John 9:2). “Neither” was Jesus’ answer. Or the eighteen people on whom a tower in Siloam had fallen: “Do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem? No,” Jesus says. “But unless you repent, you will all likewise perish” (Luke 13:1-5).
For thousands of years, people have tried to connect the dots. “Why did _____ happen?” On more than one occasion in the Bible, the confident-dot-connectors were corrected. The truth is, we don’t always know why the toughest things in life happen, and we need to avoid acting as if we do. But the good news is that we can connect ourselves to the One who knows, hears, reigns, and is willing to save. “The LORD is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him” (Isa 30:18)
Do you have questions about Him? If so, we would love to help.