Hope amidst Heartbreak
“As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” ~Isaiah 55:9
Our Lord has given many folk at Christ Covenant heavy crosses to bear recently. Some have lost loved ones, some made redundant, and others have become critically ill, to name just a few examples. And then, thinking further afield ... Helene!! The devastation caused by this hurricane has been acute. Homes, livelihoods, and towns destroyed. Desolation and isolation! Ashley and I were heartbroken to watch online an interview with a North Carolinian mother whose seven-year-old son, Micah, was washed away to his death. The mother said as Micah was carried away by the current, he cried over and over, “Save me, Jesus.” How do we respond to such things? Much could be said, but this week and next I just want us to think about Job.
Job, probably a contemporary of Abraham, was “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil.” He was a wealthy and respected man, probably in a position of great authority. Nevertheless, Job, one moment basking on the beach, suddenly was pounded with relentless waves of sorrow! Before he could catch his breath from the last wave, another suffocating swell crashed upon his head. Job all but drowned. He lost seven sons and three daughters! I cannot begin to imagine the unspeakable grief of losing one child, let alone ten. Just for good measure, Job also lost most of his wealth and his health. He went from the heights of the earth to the deepest depths of woe. The book of Job is short, but no doubt Job could have written tomes on each of his lost sons and daughters. He could have recounted a thousand happy memories of lazy summer days with his children. He could have written volumes reflecting on his mourning and the untold tears that flooded from his eyes. He could have elaborated on the downfall of his health or material loss, too. But he didn’t.
The book of Job was crafted the way it was to give us other insights. Consider just two. First, God’s will is not always for us to be wealthy, healthy, and happy. The prosperity gospel is utterly unfounded! Sometimes God’s people are poor, unhealthy, and shed many tears. Sometimes God’s will for us is heartbreak and pain. Yes, The Lord gives, but sometimes He takes away. Indeed, “oft’ times He weaveth sorrow.” Samuel Rutherford, the 17th century Scottish Puritan, asserted, “Ye will not get leave to steal quietly to heaven, in Christ’s company, without a conflict and a cross.”
Second, we learn we cannot always understand God’s will. Sometimes God’s providences are a foreign language. Sometimes we forget “He sees the upper and we the underside” of His weaving of the tapestry of our lives. Job’s “friends” presumed to be the bee’s knees at interpreting God’s will. How foolish! God is transcendent. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isa. 55:9). We must remember that God is orchestrating a thousand things in our lives and we are aware of, at best, a handful of them. “There are windings and to’s and fro’s in His ways, which blind bodies like us cannot see,” said Rutherford. We should not presume to know what God is doing, and we ought not to feel entitled to an explanation. In short, we should not “contend with the Almighty” (Job 40:2). Job learned this in chapter 38 onwards. God doesn’t answer Job’s questions, He doesn’t yield to Job’s demands, and He gives no explanation for dark providences. He simply reminds Job that He is God – most wise, eternal, omnipotent, creator God ... and that Job isn’t. An accepting, indeed humbled Job, is left standing with hand on mouth.
We shall say more about Job next week. But for now, let’s resolve not to contend with the Almighty. Rather, let’s rest in the reality that God is God. Even when we struggle to understand the providence of God, we rejoice that the providence of God is from the God of providence. And He is infinitely wise and good.
Rev. Rob Dykes, Pastor of Preaching & Congregational Care