The book of Job is, personally, one of the most difficult books to read in all of scripture. It is a story of a man that endures much pain and suffering.
In a short period of time, Job loses basically everything: his livestock is raided and struck down by lightning (taken away by people and, seemingly, by God), and desert winds blows down a house and kills all of his children.
Still, Job keeps his faith in God: "Then Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshiped" (Job 1:20). Then, Job is afflicted with painful sores all over his body. His wife tells him to curse God, but Job did not sin with his lips.
At this point, his 3 friends show up, supposedly to comfort him, but end up having a theological debate over why Job has suffered. They claim Job is being punished for sin, but Job maintains his innocence. Like us, Job asks, "Why me?"
A fourth visitor, named Elihu, suggests that God may be trying to purify Job through suffering. While Elihu's counsel is more comforting than that of the other men, Job's question "Why me?" still is up in the air.
God then appears to Job in a storm. In this storm, God is revealed to Job in all of God's majesty and power. This humbled and overwhelmed Job, and he acknowledges God's mysterious ways.
God ends up rebuking Job's three friends and tells them to make a sacrifice to atone for their witness to Job. Job prays to God to forgiven them and God accepts his prayer. At the end of the book, God gives Job twice as much wealth as he had before, along with seven sons and three daughters.
The way the story ends, sadly, is not the way every story of pain, suffering, and doubt ends. Job receives more than he ever had in the first place, but the reality is that his story ends in a unique way.
To be human means that we will suffer, we will have pain, and sometimes people will say that it is our fault. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. To God, that isn't the point. God showed up to Job in a storm, in the catastrophes of his life. His story is a witness to all of us that even though there is pain and suffering, there is also the very presence of God in our lives. This does not make those things go away, but it gives us hope in a God that will never leave us. Praise God!
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