Job Couldn’t Find God
Synopsis Job 22:20-24:4 6/26/2021
As Job and his friends persisted in dialogue, Eliphaz made yet another attempt to encourage Job to repent. He encouraged Job to “entreat” the Lord. And he promised that if Job repented in this way, God would hear him. And, he could expect God to restore his fortune.
But Job countered Eliphaz’ encouragements. Instead, he steadfastly held to his own innocence. Specifically, he told Eliphaz that if he could find God, he would plead his case for justice. Yet, his biggest lament was that he could not even find God.
Even so, he persisted in his claim that he had remained faithful to the Lord. Following this, Job once again marveled at how evil people rarely seem to experience justice for the wrong things they do.
Job Couldn’t Find God
Job suffered grievous physical pain. Even so, the worst part of his suffering was isolation from God. He could not sense that God heard his cries.
Consolation in God
An athlete in training is willing to accept pain as part of the training process. She doens’t necessarily want the pain, but she knows that the only way to improve is through training. And very often training is both hard work and physically unpleasant. For this reason, the consolation that motivates her to overcome the pain is the knowledge that she is moving forward toward something important. This is how she interprets the pain.
Accepting uninvited pain is perhaps an even greater challenge. In response to affliction, I can make a droning lament the persists as long as the pain. Or, I can nihilistically refuse to believe that it means anything. In this way, I might stoically embrace the isolation and suffering as merely unavoidable.
Or, I could believe that there is meaning even in moments of suffering. I could accept with joy the idea that somehow, even my secret pain contributes to God’s plan in the universe. Somehow, even in pain there is transcendence. It seems like a paradox. But, truth and beauty and goodness are made manifest in suffering.
In fact, this seems to be the way of saints – a gift of encouragement to us still in the way.
“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted, saves those whose spirit is crushed.” Psa 34:19
“Blessed are they who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Matt 5:4
