Is there any Comfort in not Knowing?

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Why? Why did this awful thing happen to me? Not knowing or understanding something that greatly troubles you, can be very debilitating. Emotionally and physically devastating. Christians trust in a higher power–– God to provide answers, clarify situations and be there in troubling times, especially in times of personal pain and suffering. We just expect it. Often times, our actions and attitudes suggest we demand that He give us answers. If we could just understand the whys , we could handle our circumstances better. Reality is this... we don’t always get the answers we want and comfort doesn’t always come when we need it, if at all. So, a big question looms... Is there any comfort when there are no answers?

Everyone experiences personal tragedies at some point in life. We are usually overwhelmed by a sea of uncertainty and fear, wondering if there is any comfort in this world or any strength to be found in difficult situations.

If you have gone through tragedies for which you do not know the answers, you are aware that well meaning people come to you and attempt to provide what appears to them to be comforting words. But often times what they say and do is really no comfort to you at all. You listen to the comfort they provide, but soon realize when you are alone, the emptiness and anguish of personal pain is still there. Where can we find comfort, real genuine solace in our times of tragedy?

When there are no answers, is there any comfort? To help answer that question, open your Bible and read the entire book of Job. Job shares with us some insights he gained on the harsh anvil of experience.

The story line in the book of Job is simple. I trust, you all know that Job was a very prosperous fellow. He had enormous wealth. But through a series of tragedies over which he had no control, he lost not only his wealth and property, but also all of his sons and daughters and all of his livestock. In the midst of all that tragedy he was stuck by a gruesome, terrible illness that left him sitting in a heap of ashes, wondering why all of it happened... to him.

To make matters worse, Job had three so-called friends who came by to offer him comfort. They basically said that the reason this tragedy had come upon Job was that he had dishonored God and become the object of His wrath. As he sits with sores all over his body and tears on his face grieving for lost sons and daughters and property, he has to listen to three thoughtless, ignorant friends. Maybe you’ve experienced something similar. People who lack insight and perspective are always eager to offer what they perceive to be infallible, impeccable revelations into your problems.

Job answers his three friends. One of his answers is right on, but two are wrong. It’s because of his wrong answers that God finally speaks to him. But Job was right when he said to his friends that it wasn't personal sin that caused his tragedy. Their basic opinion was that tragedies come upon us as God’s retribution, a punishment for something that we have done. Job replies to his three friends correctly by saying to them, "Look, I've done nothing. I'm innocent. I'm a righteous man, but I have lost my sons, my daughters, and all my wealth."

Job was a righteous man. However, in the midst of his suffering, which was very real, poignant and terrifying, he said two things that were very wrong. He said that God must be an uncaring God. He must not understand my situation. He must not really be kind or care for people, because he lets bad things happen. Not only that, Job also said what had happened to him was evidence that God was not in control of His universe.

Job accuses God of two things. He says to God, "You don't really care for me. And even if you do, you are not able to care for me." Those are the two charges that I think every one of us, in the midst of our times of suffering, throw down like a gauntlet before God. We may not do it loudly, but we whisper it in our subconscious in order to find some measure of comfort. "God, do you really understand my sorrow? Do you really know? Do you really care?" Then, as the temperature gets hotter, we often say to God, "Are you really in control at all?"

In Job 31:35 Job says this... "Oh, that I had one to hear me…let the Almighty answer me!" In the midst of his suffering he cries out to God. He raises the very question that you and I have raised repeatedly in the tragedies and sorrows of our life experience. It is the question that makes us shudder when our children ask it: the question, "Why?" Three times in this book Job says to God, "Answer me! Tell me! I want to know why."

Beginning in chapter 38 God does answer him. What is found in Job 38-42 is the longest discourse in the Bible in which God speaks. Finally God says he will speak to Job's allegations. Job has said to God, "Because I sit here in these ashes, because my children are only a fond memory, because I have lost everything I possessed, you must not care for me. But if you do care for me you are incompetent to provide for me."

So, verse after verse in chapters 38-42, God speaks to Job, out of a whirlwind. In the Bible a storm is often the occasion in which God reveals Himself. It's like the storm that brought ruin to Job, and destroyed his family. This time through a similar whirlwind, God brings not ruin but revelation, not tragedy but disclosure and understanding The amazing thing about what God says is how he says it.

God raises seventy questions. With those seventy questions, He says to Job, "Job, how deep is your understanding of things? How much do you really know?"

God begins by answering Job's charge that HE is unkind. Job said, "Because God has treated me this way he is basically uncaring. What’s worse, he is essentially unfair. He is unsympathetic. He lacks a real understanding of me." Haven't we all said that in the quietness of our hearts, when the whirlwind of tragedy has blown through our life and through our family? "God, I know you're there, but I don't think you’re listening. I don't think you care. I don't think you understand."

God raises a multitude of questions. With them he says to Job, "Job, how much do you know about how much I care? How much do you know about my wisdom? How much do you know about the way I order the universe?" Notice that there are no answers. There are only questions for Job to ponder.

God picks things out of nature and asks Job what he knows about them. He says, "You accuse me of not caring, but what do you know about the animals? Do you care for them, Job, like I do?” "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding." "Who shut in the sea with doors?" In the Bible the sea is always the symbol of chaos and disorderliness. God has tamed the seas and He has made the earth to be a beautiful and sustaining home for mankind.

God continues to ask questions... "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning?" I think one of the great gifts of God is the rising of the sun every day. What must have been running through Job’s mind as he attempted to fathom these questions? We don’t know... but I suspect he deeply regretted ever questioning God. "Have you ever in your life commanded the morning? Job, just how intelligent are you?"

Job also accuses God of a lack of kindness. God asks, "Have you entered into the springs of the sea, or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been revealed to you, or have you seen the gates of deep darkness? How much do you know, Job?" Later He asks, "Has the rain a father, or who has begotten the drops of dew? From whose womb did the ice come forth, and who has given birth to the hoarfrost of heaven?"

God is saying, Think, Job, think hard. You are accusing me of being uncaring. You are accusing me of not understanding, of being unsympathetic. Yet it is me God, who have made a world the depth of which you will never understand. It's running in perfect order and symmetry. That's how much I love it and ALL of my creation!

Then God turns to animals. This is one of the most beautiful passages in all the Bible. If you ever doubt the care of God, if you ever doubt his sympathy, read these verses. In chapter 39, beginning at verse 1, God says, "Do you know the time the mountain goats give birth? Are you a lover of nature? Do you observe the calving of the deer? Can you count the months they fulfill, or do you know the time they give birth? Will the wild ox consent to serve you?" It will serve God. "Do you give the horse his might? Do you clothe his neck with a mane? Is it by your understanding that the hawk soars, stretching his wings toward the south? Is it at your command that the eagle mounts up, and makes his nest on high?"

I can feel for Job when he makes this first accusation. I've been in pain. I've had physical pain, but the greatest pain in all of my life has been the suffering of emotional pain. I have been there. We all have. I have been there when the darkness was darkest. And unfortunately I have said to God in my smallest thoughts, "God, you must not care, because if you really loved me like the Bible says you do, you would never have allowed this to happen." That's Job's first accusation. But what God is saying to Job by raising all of these questions is this: "I am a God of infinite care and love and concern for my creation. If I am concerned when the goats give birth, if I am concerned that the sun rise every morning, isn't it reasonable, Job, that what you are accusing me of cannot possibly be true?"

God continues.... by answering Job’s charge that HE is unable to control the universe that HE made, that it is of out of His hands, that God is weak. At best HE is inept and at worst HE is incompetent and has no power to rule.

To answer this charge, God speaks about two animals. Both of these animals are associated with life in the waters. The sea is a symbol of chaos and also a symbol of evil, and these big animals are symbols of the chaos of life. God is saying, "If I can control those animals, then this world is not chaotic."

God speaks of the hippopotamus and the crocodile. The behemoth in chapter 40 is the hippopotamus. The leviathan in chapter 41 is the crocodile. These are large animals. The behemoth weights around eight thousand pounds. He lives in the water. He is an uncontrollable beast. Man cannot tame him. Gods says... "Behold now, Behemoth (the hippopotamus), which I made as well as you…If a river rages, he is not alarmed; he is confident, though the Jordan rushes to his mouth. Can anyone capture him when he is on watch, with barbs can anyone pierce his nose?" God is saying, "I control the hippopotamus. He is within my clutches. Evil is not random. Things do not happen by mistake."

To make the metaphor even stronger, in chapter 41 he takes up the description of the awesome leviathan. God is probably describing what we would today identify as the great Egyptian crocodile, indigenous to the river Nile. "Big croc" is an understatement. God says, "Can you draw out Leviathan with a fish hook? No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him. Who then is he that can stand before Me? Who has given to me that I should repay him? Whatever is under the whole heaven is mine."

Job made two accusations against God in the midst of his suffering. First, he said, "God, you do not care for me. For if you did care for me, the tragedy that has overtaken me would never had occurred. Disappointment, pain, and mental infirmity are alien from the loving care of God." Finally Job said, "If you do care for me, you cannot control the universe that you have made. You are incompetent and inept."

How does Job responds to God’s discourses? In Job 40:3... "Then Job answered the Lord and said, ‘Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to Thee? I lay my hand on my mouth.’" Job is saying, "I have no right to accuse you of not caring, because you have made nature. You control nature and provide for all the animals of nature. If you provide for them, simply finite creatures, how much more must you care for and love me."

In 42:6.... After God’s first discourse, Job was humiliated. After the second discourse, Job repents. "Therefore I retract," says Job. "I repent in dust and ashes." Job is saying, "I am sorry for saying that you don't care, because I know you care. I am sorry for saying that things are out of control, because you are in control."

Job had a radical change of heart and attitude. BUT... God DID NOT give him any answers... NOT A SINGLE ONE. Job changed his mind about God, but God gave no answers, to explain why things had happened to Job the way they did. No explanations for the loss of his beloved children and his wealth. God simply overwhelmed Job with the knowledge of His presence, His power, His majesty, His love, His care, His concern. There are no explanations. There is no justification. Just a revelation of God's ways... clearly beyond mere human understanding. (Isaiah 55:6-11)

Is there any comfort when there are no answers? Most of life is spent in that sphere. The only answer I can find is this... There is comfort, and that comfort comes from a reliance on the revealed character of God. God has revealed Himself to us, but He has not revealed Himself completely. God has called us to a confident and trusting faith. Real faith means accepting Him in times of personal tragedy without questioning His nature or character.

We're living in the 21st century, which has elevated and perhaps perverted the parental character of God. We have forgotten his awesome transcendence. Not only does He love us, but He is also above us and is involved in all of life's circumstances. When bad things happen, when we experience pain and suffering in this life, we must NOT think of God with the sum-total of our finite knowledge. We may never know why things happen to us. But our Lord is always near. He cares. He knows our pain and suffering.

The deepest comforts we will ever receive come to us from the hand of God and are not attached to answers, explanations or even understanding.

God is good ALL the time... even when we don't understand our pain and sorrows... HE loves us. He is our only source of eternal COMFORT.