Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. Job 13:15 NKJV
It’s not unusual to hear someone going through a hard time of deep discouragement compare themselves with the biblical character Job. Job is legendary in all of literature for the unbelievable heartache and struggle he endured in every area of life. For most of us to even think we know what he endured is ridiculous. He lost all of his children, his money, home, and possessions, and he became so sick he was covered with boils, completely miserable. He didn’t deserve it. God himself said Job was blameless, a man of complete integrity. The Book of Job is fascinating because Job did not run from God in his confusion and disappointment. He stuck with God. He never lost hope, but he shows us that God can take the full force of our questions and emotions. He loves us so completely; he wants to hear them.
Philip Yancy, author of the wonderfully helpful book Disappointment with God, says,
“One bold message in the Book of Job is that you can say anything to God. Throw at Him your grief, your anger, your doubt, your bitterness, your betrayal, your disappointment – He can absorb them all. As often as not, spiritual giants of the Bible are shown contending with God. They prefer to go away limping, like Jacob, rather than shut God out. In this respect, the Bible prefigures a tenet of modern psychology: You can’t really deny your feelings or make them disappear, so you might as well express them. God can deal with every human response save one. He cannot abide the response I fall back on instinctively: an attempt to ignore Him or treat Him as though He does not exist. That response never once occurred to Job.”
And there it is. Job was convinced of his relationship with a faithful God who in the moment he couldn’t understand. His life was so full of tragedy that the people who used to come to him left. His friends told him it must be that he had sinned. His wife told him to just give up, curse God, and die. But Job did not. He kept going to God even when he couldn’t feel God’s presence. He told Him the unvarnished truth about how he felt. He owned every bitter thought, every disappointed diatribe. But he told God, “I know You are my Redeemer, and You live. And I know that when this is over, You will stand on the earth the victor.” He never ran away, and one day he was able to sense God’s presence again and realize the depth of God’s love and restoration.
When we are disappointed in God, don’t isolate from Him and His people. Don’t ignore Him. Don’t run away. The story of Job shows us we can be disappointed in God and He can take it. He will not leave us.
- God, I now have Jesus and the Holy Spirit in a way Job did not know. I have every resource to be faithful. I commit today to stay connected through my storm.