A Just Word

The devastating earthquakes in Turkey and Syria can leave us asking ‘why does God allow people to suffer’? The Bible doesn’t shy away from these difficult questions. The book of Job wrestles with the mystery of suffering. Job’s friends have many theories but none of them is satisfactory. When God answers Job’s complaint, it is not to offer an explanation but to reassure Job that he knows and sees all and it comforts Job to know that God is present during his time of pain. Maybe

Horn of Africa and is famous as one of the gifts given to the baby Jesus by the three wise men. It was a gesture of solidarity with the 23 million people facing famine-like conditions in the Horn of Africa where five failed rainy seasons have devastated harvests.

Dave Thomas, Church and Community Manager at Christian Aid Ireland

Job’s friends should have simply said, ‘we don’t understand why you’re going through this but we’re with you.’ As we continue to wrestle with ‘why’, we can also ask ‘how’. ‘How can I best stand alongside those in need?’