07.06.2015 Old Testament: Job 33.19–22

To read the Bible in a year, read Job 33–34 on July 6, In the year of our Lord 2015

By Don Ruhl

The reasons we suffer, vary as much there are people on the Earth, but we do know that suffering was not part of God’s original plan for the Earth. Man brought suffering into the world by means of sin. Suffering ultimately precedes death, but when we suffer we are being held back from the ultimate form of suffering, which is death. Listen to Elihu as he explained to Job,

“Man is also chastened with pain on his bed,
And with strong pain in many of his bones,
So that his life abhors bread,
And his soul succulent food.
His flesh wastes away from sight,
And his bones stick out which once were not seen.
Yes, his soul draws near the Pit,
And his life to the executioners.”
(Job 33.19–22) 

Rather than just having us die right away, the Lord allows a slow movement toward death. Why would He do such a thing? He wants us to think on our lives, which is what we do when we suffer, especially if we learn that our suffering might lead to our deaths. We then start pondering the meaning of our lives and how we have lived. That is what the Lord wants us to do. That does not mean, He causes the suffering, but He does allow it in our world, knowing that it prompts us to do the kind of thinking that we need to do.