Job was afflicted more severely than most of us will ever suffer. First of all, he lost all of his wealth. Although we understand that these are not the true or permanent riches in life, few (if any) can remain unmoved at their loss. Some have taken their lives when faced with the prospect of bankruptcy; Nabal’s heart died within him when his wife told him she had given away some of his food to David and his men (1 Sam. 25:37). Recently a television program discussing the effects of volcanoes was aired. They interviewed a couple who watched the lava set fire to and demolish in just twenty minutes the house they had built themselves. Viewers could see the agony and extreme sorrow in their faces during this process of destruction. We often sing, “This world is not my home,” but we nevertheless become attached to material things.
Job lost his wealth, but worse things awaited. Job was a family man and a faithful father to his children. He was genuinely concerned about their spiritual welfare (Job 1:5). What misery it must have been to endure the loss of all ten of them at one time. Many have never been able to recover from the loss of one child; we can only imagine the sorrow involved in losing an entire family. Foy Smith was an outstanding preacher, a great spiritual man. The death of his son was a difficult thing to endure.
Dabney Phillips writes about a tragic event in the life of “Raccoon” John Smith, the great restoration preacher with a mischievous sense of humor. This incident is recorded in Restoration Principles and Personalities, first published in 1975.
The saddest event in the life of John Smith had to be the tragedy that occurred on his farm near Huntsville, Alabama, in 1814. . . . Anna [his wife, gws] had been asked to sit with a sick friend nearby. She was an excellent singer, and sought to soothe the ill neighbor with her songs. . . . At approximately ten o’clock, screams of horror reached her ears. Swiftly going outside, she saw her house on fire one-half mile down the road. She grabbed her baby and ran toward the house. She first saw Hiram, the oldest boy, holding the hand of one of the girls, and then she saw three of her other children. But twoÉhad burned to death. A friend had to restrain Anna to prevent her from leaping with her baby into the fire. The weeping mother refused to be comforted as she sat speechless near the ruins of her home.
Anna felt guilty that she had left the children alone. “Raccoon” attempted to calm her, but it was a futile effort. He accepted the loss as an act of God, and made his plans to continue preaching. Anna, however, failed to recover. She died in two months from extreme grief and was buried with the ashes of the two children (111-12).
The patriarch Jacob never rebounded from the supposed loss of his favorite son. After he had mourned for many days, “all of his sons and all his daughters arose to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted, and he said, ‘For I shall go down into the grave to my son in mourning'” (Gen. 37:35). Later, as Judah is offering himself as a slave instead of Benjamin, he says of his father, “. . .since his life is bound up in the lad’s life, it will happen when he sees that the lad is not with us, that he will die” (Gen. 44:30-31). Truly, the loss of children can absolutely devastate the unfortunate parents.
The grief and loss that Job experiences are intense, at the very least. Yet one more tragedy awaits–the loss of his health. He is plagued by “painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head” (Job 2:7). Certainly he was in a situation which appeared to have no convenient solution. People have called Kevorkian who were in better shape. No one enjoys physical suffering; Paul besought the Lord three times to remove his thorn in the flesh but was required to endure it (2 Cor. 12:8-10). Paul turned the pain into a plus: “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” He realized that all pain and suffering are not evil, but rather that they can be of benefit.
Job had a difficult time seeing anything good come out of his situation. Like most other people, he wanted to understand why these things had befallen him. But until an explanation was provided, he was committed to remaining faithful to God. “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. . . .” (Job 13:15). Job persevered and was rewarded for his faithfulness.
In the movie, The Robe, which is inspiring though historically and spiritually flawed, a young woman has a beautiful voice and disposition to match. The centurion who crucified Jesus (played by Richard Burton) has been opposed to Christianity but haunted by His death. When he meets this woman, he asks her why she is a follower of Jesus. She describes the great transformation that took place within herself when Jesus came into her village. Being crippled had made her bitter; she was hostile toward everyone. Jesus, she claimed, took all of that away.
The centurion is quick to ask her, “But if He was so powerful and did so many miracles, why are you still crippled?” She answered, “I’ve thought about that a lot. I think the reason is that it is easy for a person that has been made whole to praise Him and follow Him. But you can also love Him and be His disciple even if you have not been healed.” [These are approximate wordings, not exact quotes.] Could God have healed Paul? Easily, but it was to his benefit to retain his affliction–and ours–because we have an example set before us of one who endured physical affliction but only grew stronger as a result of it.
Job suffered the loss of his wealth, the death of his children, and the misery of ill health. Yet in his remaining faithful to God he demonstrated to Satan and to us that we can trust in God no matter what–even when all we can do is ask, “Why?” No matter how circumstances appear to us, we know that God has not forsaken us and that He is with us every step of the way. He wants us to survive and remain faithful to the end. For this reason we have even the example of Jesus, One unworthy of death suffering on the cross for our sins. We should look unto Him who endured the cross, despising the shame, and who has “sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb. 12:2).
David
The faithful are always rewarded. David suffered many of the problems that people face today. He suffered intense persecution from King Saul–so much so that he averred there was but a step between him and death (1 Sam. 20:3). Many Christians in the first century suffered greatly or lost their lives because of persecution. It cannot be considered other than tragic to watch a loved one tortured, but God did not desert them. Unreasonable and fanatical despots could inflict pain and death, but they could not harm their souls; their crowns and glory could not be taken away.
David lost an infant son, an event that despite our best medical efforts still happens to some. The king took solace in the fact that he would see the child again (2 Sam. 12:23). A person’s faith makes a great difference in the way he responds to a broken heart.
The wife of this shepherd boy’s youth grew to despise David, making their marriage loveless. Of course David could take comfort in the fact that he had a few other wives, but it is still less than ideal to remain continually in a strained relationship.
David even lost two sons forever. Amnon defiled his sister Tamar and then refused to marry her (2 Sam. 13). So far as the text goes, there is no indication that he ever repented of what he had done. Therefore, when he entered eternity (by means of his brother murdering him), he was rewarded according to his unrighteousness.
But then Absalom, who had dispatched his impenitent brother, himself died leading a rebellion against his father. David sorrowed so greatly that his soldiers were just about ready to desert him. Joab jolted him into appropriate action by telling him, “. . .for today I perceive that if Absalom had lived and all of us had died today, then it would have pleased you well” (1 Sam. 19:6). Some might muse, “Why did David mourn so much over Absalom, seeing that he was such a jerk? The answer is obvious: the jerk was his son. “O my son Absalom! O Absalom, my son, my son!” (2 Sam. 19:4).
There could be no consolation as in the case of the infant David lost. He does not say this time, “I shall go to him.” David mourns because death (at the hands of Joab) eliminates the possibility of reconciliation to either David or God. There will be no opportunity for repentance–and thus no opportunity for further fellowship. Many things in life can be undone, but death destroys the opportunity to alter one’s eternal destiny. What becomes of the broken-heated, who face situations such as these? Their faith is tested. They can become embittered and fall away. Or they can gradually accept the reality of the situation, realize that God likewise grieves with them, and realize that others have emerged from these dark sorrows.
What may have compounded David’s intense grief is that he apparently was hopeful that there might be a peaceful resolution to the rebellion Absalom was leading. All the people heard him tell the captains, “Deal gently for my sake with the young man Absalom” (2 Sam. 18:5). Perhaps David was even praying for his son’s salvation and deliverance, and it was possible since he ended up caught in a tree and was totally helpless; Joab, however, ruthlessly thrust three spears through his heart, after which ten of Joab’s armor-bearers joined in, thus completing the job (2 Sam. 18:9-15).
David is not the only one to experience such heartbreak. How did Aaron feel when two of his four sons were burned by fire from the Lord? The fact that Aaron “held his peace” as Moses appealed to God’s holiness as the cause of their deaths shows that he was upset by what had occurred (Lev. 10:3).
All who are Christians must mourn the fact that we are going to be eternally separated from those who we love. Ananias and Sapphira were undoubtedly loved by some of the members of the church in Jerusalem, but they were lost. Paul was saddened by Demas’ decision to forsake him and to love the present world more (2 Tim 4:10). Even Judas was somebody’s son. Our grief over these situations should not cause us to stumble; they should cause us to lean even more heavily upon the One Who shares our loss.
Ultimately we must recognize that even loved ones must be given the freedom to make their own decisions–even those with eternal consequences. As painful as “free will” sometimes is, it cannot be any other way. God remains holy and just; His love cannot be questioned. It is up to each individual to choose life.
As long as this world stands, tragedies, afflictions, death, and sorrows will prevail. But Paul wrote: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us” (Rom. 8:18). God truly understands all the situations we experience, and He is for us (Rom. 8:31). We can remain faithful in the face of all adversity. We know that we can; men like Job and David have already weathered the storms that pelt us.
“I will love you, O Lord, my strength.
The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;
My God, my strength, in whom I will trust;
My shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised;
So shall I be saved from my enemies (Ps. 18:1-3).
Through the Lord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
“The Lord is my portion,” says my soul,
“Therefore I hope in Him!”
(Lamentations 3:22-24).