"Behold, God works all these things . . . with a man, . . . That he may be enlightened with the light of life" (Job 33:29-30).
THEME
HOPE IN SUFFERING
"Years ago I used to commiserate with all people who suffered," wrote Bill Wilson, cofounder of Alcoholics Anonymous. "Now I commiserate only with those who suffer in ignorance, who do not understand the purpose and ultimate utility of pain."
Unable to understand the purpose of his pain, Job, with the help of three friends, probed the mind of God. The same answer popped up repeatedly--Job had sinned and God was punishing him. Yet this answer didn't match the circumstances. Another speaker, the youth Elihu, though making the same judgment, finally broke the connection between pain and punishment. He suggested that God may use suffering solely to teach people about life.
Suffering is like a hot, May day in a classroom. We want to escape it; we want to play hooky. We do not see the link between heat and Harvard. But schoolwork sweat does more than lower body temperature; it changes who we are and how we think. So does suffering; it has its own built-in reward.
Jesus knew physical aches and emotional anguish, and the writer of Hebrews says that He learned obedience through His suffering (5:8). If Jesus could learn from the traumas of life, then it is time for us to go back to school.
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JUL 01
JOB 42
"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You" (Job 42:5).
The other evening a robust seventy-six-year-old man responded to my comment about his fine physical condition by saying, "Good health is the greatest of all blessings." I replied, "Are you sure you really mean that? A man told me recently that he is thankful for illness because that's how he and his wife learned to depend on God's presence and power." Smiling, my friend said, "You're right. Trusting God is a far greater blessing than good health. If it takes sickness and pain to think about the glory of God and heaven, I say, praise the Lord for sickness and pain."
The psalmist wrote, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted" (Ps 119:71). Many believers agree wholeheartedly with that statement, for it was in a time of trouble that they too discovered the tenderness of God and experienced the reality of His presence. Although they saw no form of the Almighty as some Old Testament saints did, nor did they hear an audible voice from a whirlwind as Job did, they knew God was with them. They would rather not go through the difficulty again, but they look back upon it as worth every bit of hurt they endured.
Good health and financial prosperity are great blessings, and we should be thankful for them. But we need not get discouraged when we encounter illness or adversity. Through them we can come to know God better, and we can say with Job, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You." And that is the greatest of all blessings.
--H.V.L.
God sometimes puts us in the dark to show us that He is the light.
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JUL 02
JOB 19:13-27
"That in my flesh I shall see God, whom . . . my eyes shall behold" (Job 19:26).
Children of God can rise above every trouble and trial of life if they anticipate the glories of heaven and the joy of being there with the Savior.
I received a letter from a severely handicapped man who possessed the sense of victory that comes from a forward look of faith. He had survived a long, delicate cranial operation, but he suffered some brain damage, partial blindness, some deafness, and mild paralysis. In addition, he spent several months on dialysis after both kidneys failed. He went through an unsuccessful transplant operation and endured another period of dialysis before receiving a replacement kidney. He admitted that he felt pretty low at times, but he didn't stay down in the dumps. He fully believes that God has a loving purpose in everything He allows, and he said he was looking forward to the glorified body awaiting him. He closed his letter by saying, "I can live with my problems because I know all of these things are preparing me for heaven."
In Job 19 we read not only Job's bitter lament but also his beautiful expression of hope. He bewailed his loneliness, for in addition to losing his health and wealth he had lost his sons and daughters and all his friends had abandoned him. Even little children would have nothing to do with him. Yet he found consolation. Deep within, he believed that on the other side of death he would see God as His Friend and Savior. With that hope he could triumph over everything--and so can we.
--H.V.L.
No one is hopeless whose hope is in God.
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JUL 03
1 PETER 1:1-9
That the genuineness of your faith . . . may be found to praise, honor, and glory (1 Peter 1:7).
The abrasive experiences we encounter each day help to prepare us for heaven. God uses all of life's troubles to polish and perfect our character. If we accept our trials with the right attitude and recognize that the heavenly Father is working through them, we will someday shine with splendor before Him.
In the rough, a diamond looks like a common pebble, but after it is cut, its hidden beauty begins to emerge. The stone then undergoes a finishing process to bring out its full radiance. A skilled craftsman holds the gem against the surface of a large grinding wheel. No other substance is hard enough to polish the stone, so the wheel is covered with diamond dust. This process may take a long time, depending on the quality desired by the one who will buy it.
This is similar to the way God works with us. The procedure is not pleasant, nor is it intended to be. The Divine Workman, however, has our final glory in view. We may be "grieved by various trials," as Peter said, but when we understand what is behind them we can rejoice even in adversity. God has one goal in mind during the refining process: that our faith "may be found to praise, honor, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ." Knowing this enables us to look beyond the unpleasantness of "polishing" to see the outcome.
--P.R.V.
A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without adversity.
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JUL 04
HEBREWS 12:1-11
My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor detest His correction (Proverbs 3:11).
Scientists tell us that the seeds of certain types of desert bushes must be damaged by a storm before they will germinate. Covered by hard shells that keep out water, these seeds can lie dormant on the sand for several seasons until conditions are right for growth. When heavy rains finally bring flash floods, the little seeds are banged against sand, gravel, and rocks as they rush down the slopes. Eventually they settle in a depression where the soil is damp several feet deep. Able to absorb water through the nicks and scratches they acquired on their downhill plunge, they finally begin to grow.
Sometimes Christians are like those seeds. We need bad weather to stimulate our spiritual development. We do not take life seriously until something drastic happens. Although the heavenly Father never allows His children to suffer needlessly, sometimes He lets us experience nicks and scratches that let the water of His Word seep in and soften our hearts.
An unexpected stay in the hospital, stacks of unpaid bills, or family disruption can quickly awaken a sleeping saint. Such difficulties hurt for a while, but if we yield to the Lord we will find that life's bruises can mark the beginning of spiritual advances. Occasionally God will let us be roughed up to grow up. We may prefer to remain seeds, but He wants us to become fruitful trees.
--M.R.D.II
There are no gains without pains.
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JUL 05
PSALM 41
The Lord will strengthen him on his bed of illness; You will sustain him on his sickbed (Psalm 41:3).
Crutches kept Roger, a disabled high school student, from being physically active, yet he excelled in his studies and was well liked by his peers. They sometimes felt sorry for him, but for a long time nobody asked him any questions about his illness. One day, however, his closest friend asked. "Polio," Roger answered. The friend responded, "With so many difficulties, how do you keep from becoming bitter?" Tapping his chest with his hand, Roger replied with a smile, "It never touched my heart."
I suppose there are people who have never known affliction. But for most of us, sickness--whether physical, mental, or emotional--crowds into our lives sooner or later. The natural and proper response is to seek relief. The Bible does not guarantee a life free from illness or disability, nor does it assure us that every prayer for recovery will be answered--though many are. But it does promise a spiritual wholeness far more desirable than physical health.
If we suffer from a long-term illness that God does not remove, we need not give in to bitterness, rebellion, self-pity, or guilt. When those emotions well up, as they surely will, we can be honest with God. He understands. He will make us a channel for His love and power. If we keep our lives open to Him, affliction will never touch our hearts.
--D.J.D.
There is nothing suffered by the body from which the soul may not profit.
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JUL 06
JAMES 1:1-18
The testing of your faith produces patience (James 1:3).
While visiting an inlet of the sea that reached deep into land, leaving a sheltered bay, I noticed that the pebbles on that protected beach were rough and jagged--not smooth and polished. But out on the open shore where fierce waves break over the rocks, the pebbles were sleek and round.
The same is true of Christian character. Just as the harsh treatment of the ocean waves makes the rough stones smooth, our trials, difficulties, and testings can produce in us the luster of Christian maturity. When circumstances become difficult, we can rest assured that God has only one design in view--the perfection of our character. That's why the psalmist could testify, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted, that I may learn Your statutes" (Ps 119:71). Echoing that statement, Scottish pastor Samuel Rutherford declared that he "got a new Bible" through the furnace of adversity. The Scriptures took on fresh meaning for him when his faith had been tested and his character enriched.
The popular idea that bad things happen because we are being punished is contrary to what God says. The Word of God indicates that troubles can be a badge of honor for the Christian. Through them we can see that God is at work in us to produce the patience that James said would help us become mature, lacking nothing (James 1:4). Through the rough seas of trouble, God "rounds" the stone of our character and conforms us to the likeness of His Son.
--P.R.V.
God sends trials not to impair us but to improve us.
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JUL 07
PSALM 148
Praise the Lord. . . , fire and hail, snow and clouds; stormy wind, fulfilling His word (Psalm 148:7-8).
The psalmist brings glory to the Lord by exhorting all of creation to lift its voice in praise to His name (148:7-12). He recognized that the powerful elements of weather, such as hail and snow and great storms, are sent by God to do His bidding. Not only do they nourish and sustain life, but they also mold and shape it.
I thought about this as I looked at a gigantic beech tree near our cabin in northern Michigan. I've long admired the way its trunk rises thick and tall to the ceiling of the forest, and how its limbs, twisted yet sturdy, reach out in all directions. The weather, doing God's bidding, has made that tree what it is. A merciless summer sun has beaten down on it. Then, in the shortening days of autumn when its leaves turn brilliant yellow, the cold strong winds of Lake Superior have whipped its branches and left them bare. The winter ice coats its limbs, and it must carry the weight of heavy northern snows. Then come the spring rains, and wild thunderstorms toss the tree to and fro with mighty gusts.
The storms and winds and hail that fulfill God's Word are like the stresses and pressures of my own life. They too are sent to do God's bidding, to mature and strengthen me, and to make me what I am.
All kinds of weather--summer sun and winter storms--come from God, and He will shape us into His likeness as we yield to Him.
--D.C.E.
God will take care of what you go through; you take care of how you go through it.
