Job 42:1-6
The Epilogue of Job
1 Then Job replied to the Lord:
2 “I know that you can do all things;
no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?’
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me to know.
4 “You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.’
5 My ears had heard of you
but now my eyes have seen you.
6 Therefore I despise myself
and repent in dust and ashes.”
John 16:33
In this World You Will Have Troubles
33 "I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
When suffering comes I think it can bring doubt…Suffering is not one of the more confident emotions we have…Suffering is often lonely and sometimes seems to push us toward doubting…Suffering gives us a different vantage point, a different view, maybe another view...Suffering can bring to us a different perspective…
Author Dietrich Bonhoeffer said years ago, “There remains an experience of incomparable value…We have for once learnt to see the great events of world history from below, from the perspective of the outcast, the suspects, the maltreated, the powerless, the oppressed, the reviled – in short, from the perspective of those who suffer…The important thing is neither that bitterness nor envy should have gnawed at the heart during this time, that we should have come to look with new eyes at matters great and small, sorrow and joy, strength and weakness, that our perception of generosity, humanity, justice and mercy should have become clearer, freer, less corruptible…We have to learn that personal suffering is a more effective key, a more rewarding principle for exploring the world in thought and action than personal good fortune…This perspective from below must not become the partisan possession of those who are eternally dissatisfied; rather, we must do justice to life in all its dimensions from a higher satisfaction, whose foundation is beyond any talk of ‘from below’ or ‘from above’…This is the way in which we may affirm it.”…
Bonhoeffer says that suffering gives us a different way to look at life...Suffering is a more rewarding key for exploring the world in thought and action than personal good fortune...Those raised in comfort and ease may find this a most interesting explanation...Uncertainty, doubts, and suffering are sometimes avoided at all costs...Suffering is not something one looks forward to receiving...
In reality there are real troubles and suffering...Even Jesus told His Disciples in this world there will be troubles...Job found this out and endured his problems, felt the Presence of God and got through his issues of suffering...He saw suffering a little different after God came out of the storm...Maybe Job saw suffering differently now...He saw suffering from a Higher Dimension...