Why do people always point to the suffering of Job as a reason for sickness and hard times?
From the writings of the Rev. Billy Graham
Q: Why do people always point to the suffering of Job as a reason for sickness and hard times? – J.P.
A: The book of Job does not set out to answer the problem of suffering but to proclaim a God so great that no answer is needed.
God’s proving ground comes when trouble hits and the evil motives in our lives begin to surface. When we’re on a lake where the water is calm and clear, the rainbow ripples of light playing on the surface, everything has an air of peace and beauty. But let the winds rise and the clouds open, and the water churn, bringing up the dredges of dirt and muck from the bottom. So it is with our lives. When calamity hits us, hard thoughts of God may begin to surface. If God is so loving and wise, why did He allow this to happen?
A clergyman once said, “Extraordinary afflictions are not always the punishment for extraordinary sins, but sometimes the trial of extraordinary graces. God hath many sharp-cutting instruments and rough files for the polishing of His jewels; and those He especially loves and means to make the most resplendent, He hath [used] His tool upon [most often].”
Job had his world collapse around him; his possessions wiped out, his children killed, and he was inflicted with painful boils from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet. What did he do to deserve these calamities? It was written that he was a man who was “blameless, upright, fearing God and turning away from evil” (Job 1:1, NASB). In the face of Satan’s desire to provoke Job to curse God, the Lord instead exalted Job and restored to him his health, wealth, and favor among people. For in the midst of personal disaster, Job proclaimed, “My Redeemer lives” (Job 19:25, NKJV), and this faithful testimony has given people the hope that God rescues and saves!
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(This column is based on the words and writings of the late Rev. Billy Graham.)
©2025 Billy Graham Literary Trust. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
(c)2025 BILLY GRAHAM DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE MEDIA SERVICES, INC.
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