Job: the name is synonymous with suffering. He asked over and over "Why?" "Why me?" He asked of the master persistently, passionately, and very eloquently.

Many would agree that indeed Job suffered, but not in silence. He refused to take it lying down. Job refused to accept clichés, nor did he let "God off the hook." Like many of us, Job did not go for a second opinion; rather, he took his stance before the Almighty God. There, he protested vehemently.

Job's suffering is important, in that, it is very similar to what we experience in the vital areas of physical health, family, friends and material possessions. As one writer so eloquently stated, "It is not suffering as such that troubles us. It is underserved suffering." Nearly every one of us would agree that in our years of growing up, we expected to be punished for acts of disobedience. I remember saying when I thought I had gotten away something, "1 can't believe I am not going to be punished for that." Little did I know that my mom had a daily log, and she allowed your violations to add up into a single grandstand event. Words like, "You can take your heart to God, but bring your backside to me," still rang loudly today.

Even then I knew that discipline was connected with wrongdoing; it had a sense of justice to it. When ones does wrong, one gets punished. That's justice.

As we get older, it is surprising that there seems to be no real correlation between the degrees of wrongdoings we commit and the amount of punishment we receive. Even more surprising, is that very often something very much the opposite occurs: We do right and get tormented for it. Such was the case of Job. "We do the best we are capable of doing, and just as we are reaching out to receive our reward, we are hit from

the blindside and sent reeling."

This type of suffering is the kind that initially staggers, and then outrages us. It bewildered and outraged Job. He was, as the scripture declared, "A man who loved God and ensued evil." So why was this happening to him?

Job enunciated his reply to God so expressively, that anyone who has been a victim of suffering can recognize his or her own pain. Job said boldly what some of us are too timid to say. He made poetry of what would be for us a bundle of confused whimpers. He shouted out what a lot of us mutter behind our sleeves. Job refused to be a Victim.

More important than realizing what Job did is recognizing what Job did not do. He, after having lost all, (for some, this would have been a wrist slashing moment) did not curse God as the one closest to him suggested; neither did he attempt to explain his suffering. He did not give any instructions on how to tolerate or avoid suffering. Suffering is a mystery, and Job, like many of us, came to respect the mystery.

While facing questioning and respecting suffering, Job found an even larger mystery, that is, the mystery of the Living God.

The greatest mystery in suffering is its ability to bring one into the presence of God. Before we endure suffering, God may not have been a priority. But during our experiences with suffering, He becomes all we can think of.

Hence, the book of Job is not only a witness to the dignity of suffering and the presence of God in our suffering, rather, it is our protest to the religion that has been reduced to answers and explanations. Many of the answers Job received from his friends were technically true, but they were thoughtless, impersonal, and lacked intimacy.

 

On behalf of all of us who have been misled "by the platitudes of the nice people who show up (like Job's friends) to tell us everything will be all right if we think or do steps 1-2-3, Job issued a staunch objection. He rejected his friends' advice that had God all figured out, and teachings that attempted to explain away the reasons for his suffering. In reality, we cannot explain suffering apart from accepting that is the plan of God.

For many, suffering provides a transformation that could not have been achieved before the suffering.

So instead of focusing our attention on preventing suffering, which we would be unsuccessful in accomplishing, perhaps we should " begin entertaining the suffering, participating insofar as we are able, entering the mystery and looking to the Almighty God for answers."

In other words, we need to "quit feeling sorry for people who suffer, and instead look up to them, learn from them, and if they allow us-join them in praise and prayer. Pity can be nearsighted and condescending; but shared suffering can be dignifying and life-changing."

By Travestine J. Wright