I came naked from my mother’s womb, and I will be naked when I leave. The Lord gave me what I had, and the Lord has taken it away. Praise the name of the Lord! [Job 1:21 (NLT)]
So he will do to me whatever he has planned. He controls my destiny. [Job 23:14 (NLT)]
Life rapidly went from bad to worse for Job, a prosperous farmer who lost absolutely everything dear to him. In a matter of a few days, Job’s world was turned upside down. His flock of sheep were destroyed, his livestock stolen, his farmhands killed, and his children all died. As if the emotional pain from losing both his family and wealth wasn’t enough, Job became afflicted with boils, causing him terrible physical pain as well.
Job’s greatest torment, however, wasn’t physical or emotional; it was intellectual. He simply couldn’t understand the reason why such horrible events had occurred. In his anguish, he asked why God had turned away from him. Why was he being treated as a God’s enemy? Job, a good man, was positive that he’d done nothing wrong so his suffering couldn’t be punishment for any sins. Why then did he have to endure such woes? Even though he couldn’t understand the why of his misery, however, Job never lost his faith in God. He finally comprehended, as we all must at some point in our lives, that there will never be a satisfactory explanation for suffering and agony; our business is not to ask but to accept. Job finally asked God to forgive him for the questioning of His will. Even without knowing a reason for the tragedies of his life, the faithful Job managed to say, “Praise the name of the Lord!”
Like Job, when tragedy occurs in our lives or even in the lives of others, we feel there needs to be a reason that we can comprehend. Why we keep asking “why?” is beyond me; there is never anything close to an acceptable explanation for the tragedies of this life. We’re simply not ever going to know “why” on this side of eternity. It is a test of our faith to trust in the life a good and loving God has given to us and rather than just to trust in a life that is good. Rather than having faith in God because of what He does for us and the blessings he bestows on us, we need to have faith in God simply because of who He is and what Christ did for us on the cross. God’s plans for us are good ones and that is all we really need to know.
You, child of God, sometimes say, “What can be the design of this cross? What can be meant by that bereavement? Why am I perplexed by this dilemma? Why is this difficulty piled like a barricade across my path?” Well, you know not now, but you shall know hereafter; meanwhile, settle it firmly in your faith 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) [Charles Spurgeon]
Devotions of the Heart 