BEHIND THE SCENES

"Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job? No one else on earth is like him, a man of perfect integrity, who fears God and turns away from evil.'
Satan answered the Lord, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Haven't You placed a hedge around him, his household, and everything he owns? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But stretch out Your hand and strike everything he owns, and he will surely curse You to Your face.'
'Very well,' the Lord told Satan, 'everything he owns is in your power. However, you must not lay a hand on Job [himself].' So Satan left the Lord's presence." (Job 1:8-12 HCSB)

Last summer, my wife and I attended the nation's oldest outdoor drama, "The Lost Colony." Based on the story of the mysterious disappearance of the first English colony in America, it was a most enjoyable evening for us, as we saw this theatrical presentation of those events which happened on North Carolina's coast. Our focus was on the action, music, battles between settlers and natives--drawing us into the story itself. It was quite a production! But, behind the scenes, many people were at work to pull off the play. If you could see behind the scenes, you would find technicians operating lights and sound, you would find those directing the action, actors and actresses making wardrobe changes, sets being moved, props put in place--hundreds of people making it possible for the events on stage.

There is a divine drama played out in the book of Job. The story line is not hard to grasp: a good man is beset with heartache, questions God, is misunderstood and wrongfully accused as having brought all this upon himself, and, in the end, is comforted by God. It is a familiar story--on a smaller scale admittedly for most--to one degree or other, this story has been played out again and again on the stage of history. It may be akin to what you are going through now.

But, it is what happens behind the scenes that is vital to understanding the action on stage. God takes us backstage to show us that there is a spiritual dimension, where angels and demons move, and over it all a sovereign God directs the events to bring about His sometimes inscrutable purposes. While we may yet have significant questions about why a good God allows suffering, there are insights given which buttress our faith to withstand the barrage of doubts unleashed when we encounter this dilemma.

One answer we find is that there are no easy answers. We see what happened, we just aren't fully sure as to why it happened. It is likely we know more about occurrences behind the scenes than even Job did. But, we wish to know more.

I can tell you about the disappearance of the Lost Colony. It is a fact that Virginia Dare was the first English child born in America. What happened to her and the other colonists is a mystery. The supposition given in the performance we witnessed is plausible. But, there are some things we don't know. There are some mysteries about the ways of God also.

But, there are some things we do know. There are some theories of suffering which are blasted out of the water by this book:
1) We suffer because of our own personal sin. It is true that suffering is a condition because of living in a world under the curse of sin, and even that suffering can be attributed at times as a direct choice we have made to disobey God. That wasn't the case with Job. He is seen as a man of remarkable spiritual character.
2) Suffering occurs because of Satan. We see Satan had a role in this, but he didn't initiate it--God did. The devil could do nothing which God didn't permit.
3) God is good, but not great. There are those who will not deny that God is good, but they say He can't control everything. It is the basic argument in Rabbi Harold Kushner's popular book, "When Bad Things Happen to Good People." But, God is clearly portrayed in Job--as in the rest of Scripture--as great. He is seen as the Creator, the Lord of all seated in universal dominion possessing infinite wisdom and power.
4) God is great, but not good. He could do something about suffering, but chooses not to do so. He has set the universe in motion and now pulls the puppet strings to entertain Himself--even at the cost of human misery--an almighty tyrant. The book of Job, while underscoring that God reigns over all, still shows Him as vitally concerned, intimately acquainted and directly involved in the heartaches of humanity.

Pat answers, pious platitudes and the like are unsatisfactory. There are some things we don't know. There are real issues we wrestle with, particularly when we are taken from the audience and become part of the drama--and suffering strikes us and those we love.

As we sift through the rubble that was left when disaster struck Job like a tornado, we will find treasures of truth here and there which we will cherish for their help. Best of all, God will show up in the whirlwind, and Job will discover that what we really need is not answers, but God--and that knowing Him is enough to know.