Suffering and the Righteous Job 2:7-8 For the next two weekly discussions, we will focus on suffering and look at why the righteous suffers. The book of Job is a teachable book that teaches many valuable lessons regarding righteousness by depicting the life of Job. The background on Job is that he was a righteous man who lived during the age of the patriarchs. Job 1:1 states that Job "was perfect and upright man one that feared God and eschewed evil." Fearing God and turning from evil was the basic for Job's uprightness, just as it is for us today. The two important character traits that are seen in Job are his moral integrity (perfect) and his wholehearted commitment to God (upright). These character traits highlight rightness or belief in God's Word that was depicted in his thoughts and actions. Believers are to have the same character traits. The question becomes, if Job was so righteous, why was he allowed to suffer? First, let me just say that our faithfulness to God does not guarantee or shield believers from suffering. The Bible has many of God's faithful warriors who suffered. Joseph was one example, David, Jeremiah, Paul and our lesson character Job. The reasons why believers suffer differ as there can be many reasons for suffering. Let us example some reasons why believers suffer: (a) Believers suffer ongoing consequences of Adam and Eve's fall. (Genesis 3:16-10). Death, pain, sorrow and conflict invaded the lives of all humanity. Romans 8:22 speak of "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Paul's message is threefold in that creation itself is groaning (v 22), believers (v 23), and the Holy Spirit (v 26) is feeling the effects of sin and long for the time when the new earth and heaven will be re-established. Believers are to respond to the weight of sin by clothing him or herself in God's grace. His grace is sufficient. (b) Believers suffer for the same reasons that unbelievers do, which is the consequences of his or her own actions. Galatians 6:7 tell us that "whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." What this means then that we as believers must continue walking in God's grace and Word as He has provided the Holy Spirit to guide us in the right way.
Š All Rights subsists Feb 2011 Willie White
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