“WHY ?” – Sermon by Susan

Since 2014, the preacher was asking God why unexpected things were happening in her life. Sometimes in life we feel that we go through undeserved suffering. Why me God… was her question.
Job comes to our mind when we think of undeserved suffering. The preacher has an allergy and was in deep agony due to blisters that have pain and then rupture. Job too had severe sores from head to toe. She had heard in her Sunday school that Job was blameless but still didn’t complain (Job 1:1) when he got all the troubles. 
In Job 1:8 God approves of Him and praises him. From this we clearly understand that he did not deserve suffering. We have a tendency to think that people who sin have to go through suffering.
Job’s suffering was in God’s mind. God starts talking about Job. Job 1:6 to 12 Satan says that God has blessed Job and that is why he honors and loves God. Satan challenges God and strikes his household to test if his faith would remain intact when the going got tough. 
In Job 12-15, while one servant was reporting bad news, another came with more. These verses contain the three traumas Job faced simultaneously. 
Per Job 2:7, he is covered from head to toe in sores. In Job 2:9-10, he surrenders and does not curse God even when wife provokes him to do so. In Job 2:12 to 13, he is in such a bad state that his friends don’t recognize him. Scripture tells us that He was silent for seven days and seven nights. Sometimes the preacher also goes silent in times of trouble. In 3:1 when he finally opens his mouth, Job curses the day he was born. The preacher wonders if this is the same man. He was detesting his life but he curses himself not God.
In 3:26, Job becomes restless. We too become restless in trouble. He gives different emotional responses. He knows this suffering is from God and asks God to take his life. Sometimes we feel the same and ask the same. The preacher’s family was going through severe financial crisis and her mom was crying and asking God to take away her life. She was the first one in family come to faith but during that time of crisis her faith was wavering,
In Job 7:11, Job says he is sure he won’t be healed and decides to speak in anguish. Friends tell him to check if he has done something wrong to deserve this fate. He was indignant and said he is surely right in God’s eyes. 
In 7:17-21 Job begins to doubt himself and asks that even if he did sin, would God destroy him? Then in chapter 8, he feels condemned by friends and feels rejected by God, wife, friends… everybody. He wants to reason with God and present his case. We too do that. Job underwent different emotional struggles, kept on speaking in pain and wanted some answer even though he accepted that God is sovereign. When something unpleasant happens to us, we start complaining. When suffering got too much and prolonged, he wanted to die. Preacher related to these and had spoken and faced the same things. People asked her if she did something wrong and prayed for her sin to go. We also are like Job’s friends at times and ask people what they did wrong; but the best the friends did was to keep quite later. The preacher’s brother was going through a troubled married life and she gave him advice and opinions but now she has realized that the best thing to do is to pray for those in trouble and keep quite.
God answered Job after which Job became quite. In Job 38:4, He asks where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? God talks about the creation to tell him that He has a plan and purpose for everything. 
Job complains that while the evil ones are flourishing, he has to undergo all this and asks God.. Are you not judging properly? What is the point of being righteous? The preacher can’t imagine a man like him being so devastated as to talk like this. God says He is who He is and knows what He is doing in chapters 38 to 41… I have given you this; I have plans for you. Yes He knows but we make the mistake of thinking we know better about our life. 
God was refocusing Job from his suffering to Himself. Job speaks in 40:4-5 to admit he is insignificant and after this, he is at rest. In Job 42:1-6, he meets God and repents when he is focused on God instead of himself. When we see God in our suffering and become God-focused, we can worship Him like Job did.
The preacher’s ‘why’ got answered by God when He told her to focus on Him. She was reminded of 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 that asks us to thank God in all circumstances and to rejoice. Can we have a thankful attitude to God for our suffering? Sometimes suffering prolongs and continues lifelong. He created the earth and heavens with such finesse and knows what He is doing. Jesus said that in this world we will have troubles, take heart for i have conquered the world. Why we suffer, God knows better. Be still and know that He is God. Focus on God and He will give us strength. The book of Nehemiah in the Bible tells us that the joy of the Lord is our strength. Job did not get answers from God but got asked more questions. God did not tell him the whole story or reasons for his suffering. 
We can’t keep our mouth shut and give all sorts of advice but it is best to stand with the people as they go through suffering, pray for them, and keep quite. We want justice but we don’t know the whole story. We must trust God’s plan and know that he is in control in our lives.