“Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job’s perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy.” James 5:10-11
Job has puzzled many disciples. Why would a righteous man have to suffer the way Job did? But the real lesson is not understanding why Job had to suffer (overcome Satan), that is like trying to understand why Jesus had to suffer for us (overcoming Satan, Sin, the world) (John 16:33, 1 Corinthians 15:55-57, Colossians 2:15). However, it is understanding Job’s perseverance through the hardship that we should imitate. Job got questioned by God how the world is created and sustained, why certain animals behave the way they do, and Job had no answer to Gods wisdom. We too do not have an understanding of God’s wisdom in why things happen! Too often we can be caught up with asking “why is this happening” instead of asking “What is God teaching me?”, “How is God refining me through this trial?”, but ultimately “what does God want to bring about when I persevere through this suffering?” In everything God has a lesson for us, but we must trust enough to be trained by the hardship (Hebrews 12:11).
The miracle and blessing of Job at the end of his life were dependants on his perseverance. Staying faithful till the end sometimes is the only way to see the miracle come! Staying faithful can be challenging, especially when you do not understand the suffering. However, God never told us to comprehend every challenge we face, but to stay faithful through it!
“Be diligent in these matters; give yourself wholly to them, so that everyone may see your progress. Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save both yourself and your hearers.” 1 Timothy 4:15-16
Life and Doctrine are salvation issues and so is endurance. This perseverance of faith comes when the odds are against us, and we are looking into the face of suffering, hardships, and trials. It is then we must stay faithful to God, trusting him, knowing that He is working for our good, these trials are what we need, and He will bring a great outcome if we stay faithful until the end (Hebrews 5:7, Romans 8:28, Matthew 6:25-33, James 5:10-11)!
“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.” Matthew 24:12-13
Job suffered because of Satan. He lost everything, suffered financial hardship (Job 1:13-17). His children died, and he experienced death (Job 1:18-19). His body covered with sores from head to toe as he sat in a heap of ashes (Job 2:7). When his friends arrive, they remain silent for seven days because they saw how great was his suffering (Job 2:13). However, to their understanding, the reason Job was suffering was because he was a malevolent and evil individual. They could not fathom that a human being would suffer although they were innocent. Sometimes our suffering comes about because of our own sin (many of our hardships). However, there are some sufferings that we do not have control over, we may not understand, but have come to test our faith, our perseverance, our love and to grow our character (Romans 5:1-5).
Since becoming a disciple God has taught me many lessons, and I know many lessons are before me. A lot of my suffering has come because of ignorance and sin, but some because it is God’s will. Since being a disciple I have had Shingles 13 times, Bronchitis more times to count, Pneumonia once, Hand Foot and Mouth Disease, and even as I write this article, two ruptured discs in my neck and a herniated disc in my lower back. Many have said it is because I am not healthy and I do not take care of myself. But the doctors would tell otherwise, and so would my physical fitness/training routines. Like Jobs friends, they do not bring me any comfort.
When I first herniated my discs in my neck, it was due to helping push someone’s truck that was out of gas to the gas station. During this pain, I broke down before God while driving myself to the Emergency Room. I was broken, I didn’t want to continue, and I cried out asking God why? The pain, the hardship was too much, He needed to take it away because I didn’t know how much longer I could continue. How weak I am! God helped me understand we can go a lot further than what we think! And Christ went a lot further than I could ever imagine (Matthew 27)!
Recently I was spending quality time with my two girls after a long day of hard work. When standing up from the couch, my neck gave out, two discs ruptured! I laid on the floor for a few hours until I got myself to the bed. The next morning my wife dropped me off at the Emergency Room where I spent the next seven hours; this happened seven days ago. I am still in a lot of pain and have to wait until insurance approves my requests to see a neurosurgeon to hopefully get a microdiscectomy; which can relieve the pain instantly. I do not have a cool story for this pain; I wasn’t helping anyone, I wasn’t saving a baby seal or doing anything extreme like luging down the side of an active volcano, I was sitting on my couch! However, through all of this, I trust God. I might not understand my situation or the cross that I have to carry, but I do understand the importance of never quitting, and never giving up! As I have said before, God can work with a failure; He just can’t work with a quitter!
“They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them. Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.” 2 Peter 2:19-22
No matter what our hardship is, we must never give up. We must not base our Christianity on our comfort. To be faithful only when the circumstances allow it. We are no longer slaves to our circumstances, and our comfort does not master us! We must never fall away or give up on God’s promises! We must destroy the thoughts of quitting, and overcome them with conviction (2 Corinthians 10:3-6). We must endure hardship, no matter the reason (2 Timothy 4:5). We must grow from it and produce a harvest of righteousness (Hebrews 12:11). We must become more like Christ (2 Corinthians 1:3-11)! To the glory of God, we will!
Love,
Coltin L Rohn