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    Great works of art often unsettle and destabilize us, forcing us to re-evaluate and rethink familiar truths. In addition, great works of art often comfort us with firmer foundations in the darkest valleys. This is the power and the beauty of the book of Job. Confronted by loss and despair, many have turned to this complex, intricately-crafted work, seeking answers to questions of suffering and the Lord’s comfort. Many limp away unsettled and destabilized, questioning what they thought they knew; while others give up after one or two attempts to find answers and comfort in Job’s pages. For those willing to mine its depths, the book of Job provides a firmly-founded comfort in the Lord’s sovereign plan and governance even amid inexplicable suffering.

    Often, we unrealistically expect clear, easily-understood answers to the mind-breaking, heart-wrenching problems of suffering and evil. We expect these truths to lie scattered on the ground like diamonds instead of having to work hard and mine for what is valuable and endures. Much like Job and his friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and Zophar, we often seek an easily-understood explanation that will help us sort out what is happening. Why do we expect an easily-understood, satisfactory answer to the question of why the innocent and righteous suffer? What set of words will alleviate our grief and allow us to respond with positive platitudes as if the suffering never happened? Is knowledge really the issue? If we knew more, would we suffer less or be able to cope any better? Or would we struggle more? Such questions arise when we experience and confront suffering. In its complexity and mystery, the book of Job prompts some of these questions (and a host of others).

    This mysterious complexity in Job contributes to its stunning beauty. Failing to provide trite answers to questions of profound mystery, Job, in fact, fails to provide an answer or a theodicy in words to the question of suffering at all. Hopes of a mechanistic, utilitarian solution perish in the whirlwind. As we explore Job’s depths, we discover that God is not bound by our mechanized, conventional understanding of His ways or by our demands for utility so that we can exert some control. Instead, the God of Job has an eternal plan for all things, even the things we don’t understand though we see them. The God of Job controls and governs all things for His glory- even 2 | Job when we cannot comprehend how God could ever be glorified by such events. The God of Job is the God of the Bible and all creation working all things for His glory and our ultimate good.

    These profound and mysterious truths cannot be gleaned from a cursory reading of this text. As C.S. Lewis writes in On Stories: And Other Essays on Literature, “We do not enjoy a story fully at first reading. Not till curiosity, the sheer narrative lust, has been given its sop and laid asleep, are we at leisure to savor the real beauties.” Robertson Davies, a 20th century Canadian novelist, comments that, “A truly great book should be read in youth, again in maturity and once more in old age, as a fine building should be seen by morning light, at noon and by moonlight.” Therefore, we should seek Job’s priceless treasures at various points in our lives, recognizing that we are able to clearly see changes as God sovereignly ordains the events of our lives. A firm foundation of comfort awaits those who are willing to mine Job’s depths over the span of their lives.

    As we embark on this series, please read ahead and be prepared for the texts that will be covered that week in the service. This is critical. I also encourage you to read the chapters in Job that we do not cover to gain a more robust understanding of this book’s overall progression as Job’s and his friends’ arguments spiral further away from how God ultimately relates to His sons and daughters. Note how each attempt and response advances and changes. Let us pray that this will be an excellent series to discuss in community with your family and others who join us on this journey.

Sola Deo Gloria!