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A Time for Job

by Pastor Abby Davidson

This summer is different from any other summer. Children didn’t race from schoolyards as the final bell rang. The streets aren’t filled with music and the food festivals that usually take place during these warm months in Toronto. And, if you are fortunate enough to be able to take a vacation, it probably looks much different than it usually does.

We’ve come a long way in this pandemic since March, but there’s still a long way to go. Viral outbreaks are still happening in different parts of the world. As if that weren’t enough, protests still continue across the globe as people confront racism and hatred in their communities that refuse to die. We’ve all had time to sit back and witness the chaos and suffering that exist in our world. If ever there were a time to read Job, that time is now.

Job is a book about suffering. It’s a book about questioning God. It’s a book about being faithful when chaos surrounds you. It looks at the question “Why do bad things happen to good people?”. It also looks at the struggle that exists between good and evil.

Job can be confusing to read. It brings up a lot of questions about God.

Does God really have wagers with the devil?

Does God use people and allow unnecessary suffering in their lives to prove a point?

Will this happen to me?

Job is a book of praise and lament; praise for the Creator and lament over the evil that exists this world. The question that I take from it is “Do we love God because we benefit from the relationship, or do we love God for who he is?”. Last Sunday we sang Blessed Be the Name of the Lord. There’s a line in the song that says You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name.

I struggle to sing this line. It grieves me to think of losing all that God has given me. Yet this is the world we live in. Loss is guaranteed to happen and suffering is a part of life.

Job is a hard book to read, but it teaches us about faithfulness – both ours and God’s. God is faithful in the midst of loss. We may lose everything, but we don’t lose God. Our faithful response is to both praise and lament in times of trouble. We lament our losses, and we praise God for who He is; unchanging and omnipotent. Job teaches us to proclaim with the Psalmist Though an army encamp around me, my heart will not fear. Though a war breaks out against me, I will keep my trust. Job teaches us how to bless the name of the Lord, now and forevermore.