Trusting When it Hurts

Conclusion

Suffering is inescapable.

You and I will experience good times and hard times. We may wish we could skip the hard times. And we may be able to skip some of them.

But no matter what we do, some hard times will come. We can't avoid them all.

What can we learn about hardship from this world champion in right handling of hardship?

Here are some of the lessons we can learn from Job.

The overriding lesson of the story of Job—if you only retain one thing from this book, retain this—is:

• If you don't know why someone is hurting, don't assume.

Job's friends took a guess, based on the popular beliefs of their day, and based on their personal need to feel safe. But their guess was wrong. And when, based on their sincere but wrong belief, they attacked Job, God was angry with them.

What if it's not your loved one who is hurting, but it's you? These lessons stand out:

• Trust God.

  Job wanted God to end Job's suffering. Job wanted God to explain everything, so Job could feel more in control during his suffering. But God told Job, "Stop second-guessing Me. I know what I'm doing. Trust Me."

• In faith, talk to God about your pain.

  You can be open with God about your hurts. Your honesty doesn't hurt God's feelings. But complain the way Job did, not the way the Israelites in the wilderness did: use your complaint to express faith in God, and determination to follow Him to the end!