Hopelessness, Suffering, and Unjust Loss - Part 1
When you’ve experienced great loss and reached the lowest pit of hopelessness, you need encouragement. You need comfort. You need friends to talk to—friends who will stick with you and listen without judging. You need relief from the pain. You need hope!
And you need a God who understands.
When you find yourself in the lowest pit of hopelessness, God not only understands; He is very present to help you (Psalm 46:1). He is not “somewhere out there”, unconcerned and untouched with your sorrows. The truth is that He gives priority attention to the brokenhearted.
The Lord is close to those whose hearts have been broken. He saves those whose spirits have been crushed.”—Psalm 34:18 (NIRV)
The Good News Translation says it this way, “The Lord is near to those who are discouraged; he saves those who have lost all hope.”
When Jesus came to earth, He made it one of His chief missions to heal broken hearts.
“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to heal the broken hearted, to proclaim release to the captives, recovering of sight to the blind, to deliver those who are crushed”—Luke 4:18 (World English Bible)
God stands willing, able, and ready to help us through the very toughest times of our lives. As we cry out to Him, the comfort, the encouragement, the love, the relief from pain that He will graciously give to us is beyond anything that we could receive from anyone else, even from those family members and friends who love us most. As we seek Him for answers, He stands ready to share truth about our situations that will bring clarity, understanding, and hope for a tomorrow that will be better than today.
“Call out to me. I will answer you. I will tell you great things you do not know. And unless I do, you wouldn’t be able to find out about them.”—Jeremiah 33:3 (NIRV)
An expression of God’s concern and compassion for the hopeless has been captured in a love letter written to us in the story of Job. As we turn to this book in the Bible, which was written especially for those times when we find ourselves in the depths of despair and hopelessness, we find that God has provided in this love letter profound comfort, hope, encouragement, and support for times of extreme despair.
It also serves as a manual for our friends and family members about how to help—and what not to do—when those we care about experience tragedy, crisis, and devastation that can so easily lead to hopelessness and despair.
Profile of the Man
The book starts by giving us a profile of the man who is about to experience the greatest crisis of his life.
“There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job;”—Job 1:1
The name of this man tells us so much about him. The name “Job” means “hated,” “he that weeps,” or “one ever returning to God.” We’ll see as his story unfolds that each of these meanings is a perfect description of the man.
Job was certainly “hated”, but hated by whom? We don’t have to read very far to discover that Job was dear to the heart of God, who praised Job openly among those gathered before His throne; but Job was hated by the one who would devise a plan to destroy Job and all that was dear to him. Job was loved by God, but hated by Satan.
And so are you.
This is not just a story about one man. God gave Job’s story to be a source of comfort, encouragement, and explanation for all of us. Job’s story was written for you. You are also deeply loved by God, but hated by a cruel devil who devises schemes to destroy you. That truth is one of the primary lessons of the book of Job. Our eyes need to be opened to see that clearly. We need to maintain a firm grasp on that reality and understand that it is always true, regardless of our circumstances.
If the book of Job was simply a story about one man’s misfortunes, it might be worth a quick reading, but it is much more than that. God chose to record Job’s story because it has application for your life. The book of Job can be a lifesaving source of comfort, hope, and insight in times of great loss and hopelessness. The book of Job was written for you because like Job, you are a “person who weeps.”
God has not only seen your weeping; He has wept with you. It is His nature.
“Jesus saw that Mary was crying and that the Jews who came with her were crying, too. Jesus felt very sad in his heart and was deeply troubled. He asked, ‘Where did you bury him?’
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they said.
Jesus cried.
So the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him.’”—John 11:33-36 (ICB)
The Apostle Paul exhorts us to do the same:
“Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.”—Romans 12:15 (NKJV)
By doing so we demonstrate the nature of God.
But God’s deep love for you goes beyond that. He has not only wept with you in your pain. He has valued every single tear that you cried, and He has marked each one.
“You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book.”— Psalm 56:8 (NLT)
There is a purpose for tears in this life, but beyond this, God has an ultimate promise for those who love Him. There will come a time when there will be no more weeping for those who believe in Jesus Christ.
“He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”— Revelation 21:4 (NLT)
Until then, like Job, you are a “person who weeps.”
May you also, like Job, be “one ever returning to God.” God is the only one wo really understands what you are going through, and is able to offer profound comfort, encouragement, and hope to sustain you through the toughest times of life.
Job’s life story describes a man who was hated and a man who wept, but because he was also a man who was ever returning to God, he was able to endure and overcome great loss to experience ultimate victory over the devastating tragedies that had crushed him. His life story has become a manual for overcoming hopelessness and despair.
Don’t Close the Book!
Job’s story seems to be one of nothing but grief, loss, and pain—until we get to the last chapter. On the other side of Job’s pain, he found justice, vindication, complete restoration of relationships, health and wealth that actually amounted to twice as much as what he had lost! And he gained profound new revelation of the nature and character of God that he would never have experienced otherwise.
And this was not the end of Job’s story. He was granted many more years of life to fully enjoy the blessings that he had received.
“Job lived 140 years after that, living to see four generations of his children and grandchildren. Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life.”— Job 42:16-17 (NLT)
Like Job, your last chapter has yet to be written. Don’t give up! God specializes in resurrection and restoration. Don’t close the book before He has a chance to turn things around for you! Allow God to write the final chapter of your story. You won’t be disappointed!
Next: Suffering Does Not Equal Punishment
Back: Switching Tracks
