I'm not very good at suffering. Honestly, I whine when things don't go well. Whenever things start to get hard in my life, even when I have what I need, I find myself snickering and doubting Scripture. I remember, "But godliness with contentment is great gain," (1 Timothy 6:6) and I think, "Really? Like what?" Of course, I find my self being rebuked as quick as I say that, and I am forced to acknowledge that I do not know the whole plan of God.
I guess that is why I like the book of Job. It is a hard book to follow sometimes though. I mean, I can follow when who is speaking, the text is pretty good about telling us that, but sometimes I don't get the arguments being made. But, even though I'm certain I miss some of the details, the general concept seems pretty clear to me, most of the time. Job is suffering, and he doesn't know why, and his friends claim that it is because God has found some fault in Job and calling Job to repent of his wickedness.
By the end of the book the youngest character speaks, Elihu, and his rebuke to Job is another animal entirely. He does not rebuke Job for sinning in some unspecified way, but by sinning by not giving God the glory and putting his focus on God. Job's sin is not that he is proud, it isn't that he sinned in his words, but that he forgot that God is bigger than his suffering, God is more than just good times, God is God in all things, and he is always righteous. Job opened his mouth, and in his suffering he called to his friends, "look at me and weep! I'm in pain, I have lost all I had, and God persecutes me and will not leave me alone! If only I could die, then I would be happy, but God won't even give me the mercy of a quick death!" Job was in a sorry state, but more important than Job's suffering was God's glory.
When God confronts Job he makes this clear. He asks Job what he knows of earthly matters, and when Job cannot answer that God confronts Job with questions of his own weakness and finite nature. Job finally realizes that he has been a fool. He wanted to argue with God, but he forgot his own mortality, and that God is more than he could imagine. I imagine it will be the same on the day when I meet God and see his power with my own eyes.
There is great gain in godliness with contentment. I may not know what is happening now, but I will see how great it is on that day when I stand before the judgment of God, given mercy in Christ. Perhaps the greatest gain is not in the peace I can live with now, but it is the preparation of my soul for the glory that is to come. When I am content with godliness now, instead of seeking my contentment in worldly pleasures, I am encouraged to look forward to the fact that one day I will die, and I will be with my God who saved me. There is a new heaven and a new earth coming, and our godliness today is preparing us for the enjoyment of that new creation.
Hardships come, for some more often than others. Job knew that one day God would redeem him, and he continued to hope in God, despite all that happened to him. He said, "Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high." (Job 16:19) Also, "For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth." (Job 19:25) My prayer is that no matter what I suffer Job's hope might be mine. As we trust that one day our redeemer will stand on the earth, that Christ who intercedes for us now will one day stand triumphant upon the earth, it should give us endurance for every situation.
Godliness is not just how we act, it is what we believe and what we teach. That is why Paul says to Timothy, "If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing." (1 Timothy 6:3-4a) We need to be continually reminding ourselves to pay heed to the teaching we have received. We need our minds to be remade. We need the patience of Job in suffering so that we can say with Paul, "More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us." (Romans 5:3-5) And the only way we can have the patience of Job is if we have the faith of Job in the God of Job, for he is our God too.
How is your patience today? How is your doctrine today? Who is your God today?
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