There was a day in Job's life when his whole world came crashing down around him. In a single day, all his livestock and livelihood were stripped from him; and, to make a bad situation even worse, on that same day, all ten of his children were killed. If it weren't for the behind the scenes tour we were given, informing us of the heavenly courtroom conversation between the Sovereign Lord and the Accuser, we would be left to wonder how a good God could allow such terrible things happen to such a good person. It's a question that gets asked all the time, to which few provide an answer. The Lord gives us the answer even before tragedy strikes in Job's life, so that we are not left to wonder or to question why He was allowing such horrible circumstances to fall upon one of His highly-esteemed servants. It was true, Job was a good man, a blameless man, and an upright man, who fears the Lord. The Lord Himself even told Satan that "there is none like him on the earth" (1:8) - but his shining resume would not be able to keep him from day of tragedy, nor save him out of his troubles. There is only One who can save us.
"Who has believed our report?
And to whom has the arm of the LORD been revealed?
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
and as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
and when we see Him,
there is no beauty that we should desire Him.
He is despised and rejected by men,
a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.
And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him;
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him."
(Isaiah 53:1-3)
Our Lord Jesus knows fully the destruction that sin brings into the human life. He came as the ultimate suffering Servant, willing to bear all our griefs, sorrows, sickness, and pain, that are the consequences of sin, in His own body, and He nailed them to the Cross. He was considered "smitten by God" because He was "hanged on a tree" (Deuteronomy 21:22, 23; Galatians 3:13). He was "despised and rejected," "wounded and bruised," "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He was blameless like Job, but unlike Job, Jesus was sinless. Job's life had become a battlefield which would be used to prove that the Lord God was worthy of man's worship regardless if he experienced blessing or burden from the hand of God. Job's humble response and testimony of faith in the midst of overwhelming tragedy shut the mouth of the enemy, for a moment. But it was the life of Jesus Christ, where the greatest spiritual battle was fought and won, that would silence the enemy forever, and bring the greatest honor and glory to God. Our Lord Jesus' willingness to lay down His life for the sins of mankind was the ultimate act of worship. "Yet is pleased the LORD to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief" (Isaiah 53:10a). As we travel this journey, may we gain a clearer, heavenly perspective of our trials and suffering. The Lord will use the trials and tragedies of this life to bring us to perfection. Our humble, worshipful response to those sufferings has power to silence the enemy of God who wants to destroy our faith in God and rob God of the worship that it due His glorious name. "Out of the mouths of babes and nursing infants You have ordained praise, because of Your enemies, that You may silence the enemy and the avenger" (Psalm 8:2). May we find comfort today in the knowledge that the battles we face today have already have been fought and won on the ultimate battlefield where the blood of Jesus, alone, was shed, so that we might live and walk victoriously in this life. Let us look beyond our present circumstances and look to the perfection of Jesus Christ and magnify His wonderful name today! "Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt His name together" (Psalm 34:3).
"Surely He has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed Him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
But He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,
and by His stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have turned, every one, to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
He was oppressed and He was afflicted,
yet He opened not His mouth:
He was led as a lamb to the slaughter,
and as a sheep before its shearers is silent,
so He opened not His mouth."
(Isaiah 53:4-7)