If I...

Job 31

As Job recounted his life, he repeatedly began verses with 'if I'.. If he had done the many things that he had listed, then he would have been worthy of great punishment, but in his mind, he had not. Instead he had made a commitment to live righteously, and to the best of his ability, he had. He previously thought that calamity and disaster were for workers of iniquity, but now he knows that they are not! Why?? He does not understand. Why does suffering happen to righteous people??

Job's life and problems are similar to the life of the Wurmbrands. They lived righteously and were constantly spreading the gospel. Yet, harsh imprisonment, cruelty, torture, separation, and starvation became their life pattern for year after year. Sabine was imprisoned for 3 years and then after that lived a life of severe deprivation and more persecution, but during all of that she never stopped living righteously and telling others about Jesus. Richard was imprisoned for a total of 14 years where he endured things that I could not even imagine. They both missed out on the childhood of their son and even living together, two things that I take for granted and think all people should have. But they sacrificed it all for Jesus. They risked everything to spread the message of Jesus.

Why? That is the question that Job wanted to know, and that all people want to know, but the answer is not readily available. It may never be known until believers are in glory with Jesus. But it appears that some suffering is to bring glory to the name of Jesus. In Job's case, Satan was trying to defeat one of God's servants and thus shame God. Could that be what is happening in most cases? God is bringing glory to Himself by believers who are ready to stand the test, who are ready to endure to the bitter end, and who choose Him above all else, even  a life free from horrible persecution.

Father,
Give me the measure of grace to withstand all that You have for me. Keep me ever focused on You.
In Jesus name,
Amen