In the previous chapter, messenger after messenger arrives with the disastrous news that Job has been stripped of everything—family, lands, servants and possessions. Job’s response is still to worship God, refuting Satan’s accusation that Job’s faith was conditional on God’s abundant blessings.
Not to be defeated, Satan now ups the ante. He says, “Okay, he didn’t falter when his possessions were taken away, but certainly he will curse you if he has to suffer physical pain.”
Read More compassion, silence, pain
The ancient Israelites were storytellers. They were given a God-directive to keep their history alive by sharing their stories. “These are things we learned from our ancestors and we will tell them to the next generation.”
Read More pain, faithfulness, prayer
Delivering a child is painful enough even if all goes well. But one of the great tragedies of modern times is that, according to world health officials, more than 300,000 women die in childbirth every year.
Poor women in places like sub-Saharan Africa and southeast Asia still perish today largely because they don’t have a skilled attendant, a trained professional to handle emergencies that inevitably arise during childbirth.
Read More joy, end times, childbirth, painAs any child who has participated in a Bible memorization competition in Sunday School knows, John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible. I’ve often wondered why. What is it about the two simple words, “Jesus wept” that made scholars believe they needed to stand alone?
In this story, we get the impression that Mary is so overcome by grief that she can’t even muster the strength to run out to greet Jesus as her sister has.
Read More pain, compassion, tears
Read Reflect It was dusk as I was sitting on a large boulder in a random village in northern Ethiopia. Weeping and praying that God would look upon me, see how hard I have been working, how diligent I had been in the local ministry work, and then deliver me from the pain. I had […]
Read More rock, God’s goodness, pain
Read Reflect It doesn’t get much more raw than this. Jeremiah is sick and tired of seeing the disobedient people around him prosper. It is particularly galling when he has been faithful and is suffering. “So drag my enemies away and butcher them like sheep” he says to God. The pain and anger is palpable. […]
Read More pain, anger, justice, honesty
The mood changes. The speaker here is a man who in his own personal pain mirrors something of the pain of Jerusalem. The Hebrew word for man here implies a man of strength or valour; this makes his condition all the more moving. It is debated whether he is to be identified with the narrator of the earlier chapters.
Read More judgment, pain, hope, discipline, unfailing loveThe high notes of yesterday are not quite maintained. A recital of injustice, desperate pleas to God and a cry for vengeance are more prominent. Evil and pain are all-pervasive and cannot be ignored; they act as a constant challenge to faith, and anyone who pretends otherwise has not plumbed the depths of human agony or faced the questions that it raises.
Read More evil, pain, comfort, returnEvery day, people are deeply wounded by the words of another. There are those who are devastated by the words of someone they thought loved them, and there are others who are left distraught by people who will tell them one thing and do something else behind their back.
Read More pain, protection, words, wounds, God's words