“Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?” (Job 3:11).

Job’s basic question was why God had permitted his suffering. He realized that God controlled his destiny, but did not feel he had committed sins worthy of such pain and misery. The Lord could have explained it all to him, but instead of defending Himself, He chose to remind Job of His sovereignty by asking him questions He knew Job could not answer. Some of these were:

“Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth?” (38:4). “Where is the way where light dwelleth?” (v.19). “Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion?” (v.31). “Shall he that contendeth with the Almighty instruct Him?” (40:2).

As Christians, we need to recognize that we cannot question the Lord’s actions towards us or expect Him to explain the reason for His providence. We can, however, rest in the assurance that, “all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28).

We can also be assured that if we ask for anything that is in accordance with His will, we will receive it: “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (I John 5:14,15).

Of central significance is “His will,” for He “worketh all things after the counsel of His own will” (Ephesians 1:11). He may not choose to reveal to us in this life the reason for many things that happen to us, but He thinks in terms of eternity, and we can take comfort in the fact that if we are born again, the Holy Spirit dwells in us, and He works all things together for our good. RAA