Job’s Struggle: Unveiling the Mystery of Suffering

A story that has always fascinated me is the story of Job, because from the beginning to almost the end, his search for answers challenges principles that many people take for granted—such as the principle of cause and effect, which holds that every action leads to a consequence. A clear example of this is retributive justice, the belief that God rewards those who do good and punishes those who do evil. It is the disruption of retributive justice that sets off a series of debates between Job and his friends, and between Job and his wife, and eventually leads to the intervention of Elihu, a young man who acts as God’s defender and raises the curtain to the most decisive intervention of all—God’s own.

Job’s desperation to make sense of what he was passing through dared him to ask questions that were as universal as they were uncomfortable-and even controversial. These questions have remained relevant throughout the ages, even to this day. A quick paraphrase of four of Job’s questions in more contemporary language shows that anyone who has experienced-or is currently facing-some form of pain, whether tragedy, chronic hardship, or illness, could easily ask: Why Was I Born If I Was Going to Suffer Like This? (Job 3:11) Why does God treat me like an enemy? (Job 7:17–20) What did I do to deserve this? (Job 6:24) Why Doesn’t God Answer My Cries? (Job 30:20).

First, a bit of Context

Sat on ashes, covered in sores, scratching himself with a piece of broken pottery was Job. Not long before, he had been a powerful man, surrounded by wealth and a large family. His acts of kindness had earned him a reputation as a righteous man. Yet in a single day, he lost everything.

Second, the most devastating blow came when a servant brought the terrible news that Job’s children had died after a violent wind from the desert collapsed the house where they were feasting (Job 1:18–19 NIV). Anyone in such a situation might have exploded in anger, rage, or despair. Yet what is remarkable in this part of the story is Job’s calm and deeply spiritual response: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21–22).

Third, the situation became worse when a skin disease afflicted Job, causing severe itching and leaving his body covered in sores from constant scratching. Despite all his suffering, Job maintained an upright attitude. However, his attitude began to shift after his wife’s intervention. Could her words have influenced this change in tone?

Finally, although seven days of silence followed Job’s wife’s words, the Bible records her statement as the last one spoken before Job broke his silence. Therefore, her brief but intense statement, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9) may have deeply disturbed Job. From that moment on, Job began to express his pain, anger, and confusion. It wasn’t that the death of his children hurt him any less than his illness, but rather that his response reflected the accumulated weight of all the suffering he had endured.

In psychology, this kind of reaction is known as traumatic impact. Traumatic impact occurs when the mind is overwhelmed by extreme events. Trauma can manifest in various ways—one of which is a search for identity. When someone loses what once felt firm and secure, they are forced to rebuild their understanding of the world—and of themselves. The search for meaning and identity in the midst of pain is a constant theme throughout the book of Job.

Job has no idea of the conversation between God and Satan in the heavenly courts; he is not aware that he has become the target of the tempter—one of the titles attributed to Satan in the Old Testament. “The Lord said to Satan, “Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life” (Job 2:6). Although Job is unaware of this situation in heaven, he is certain that what he is experiencing is the result of an alteration in the spiritual realm. Therefore, in his search for answers, no question is too foolish to ask. Every complaint, lament, and argument are allowed, all of them except one: cursing God!

1 Why Was I Born If I Was Going to Suffer Like This?

Although Job does not follow his wife’s advice—to curse God and die to end his suffering—it is striking that the first questions he raises concern his very existence: “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?” (Job 3:11). In other words Why Was I Born If I Was Going to Suffer Like This? With these words, Job begins a series of speeches in which, more than simply expressing his pain, he embarks on a one-way journey that will forever change the way he relates to God. Job is beginning to realize that there are things about God he does not know.

In fact, “Why Was I Born If I Was Going to Suffer Like This?” directly challenges retributive justice’s concept. Because it suggests that living a righteous life does not always guarantee reward—at least not on this side of heaven—and that suffering can strike even the innocent. However, when viewed through the lens of lived experience, this question flows like a stream of fresh water through the arid desert of retributive justice. It brings honesty into the conversation about pain and creates space for the kinds of questions that emerge from deep, human anguish.

While the preacher in Ecclesiastes urges us to measure our words in light of God’s transcendence—God above and beyond the created world—saying, “Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God.
God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few.” (Ecclesiastes 5:1–2). Job by contrast, reveals God as deeply involved in His creation through His immanence—present within, near, and intimately engaged with both the universe and humanity. This becomes evident when he cries out, “What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment?” (Job 7:17–18). To Job, God is not a distant being but someone with whom he can speak openly, without censors. Though it is true that God is infinitely great and mysterious, He is also intimately present and active in creation. Job’s experience helps us see that expressing our pain before God is not irreverent—it is, in fact, legitimate and necessary.

2. Why does God consider me His enemy? (Job 7:17–20)

In his affliction, Job searched for an explanation for his suffering, and his logic pointed to the only one accountable—God. How could the same hand that had once protected and blessed him now strike him down? “Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you?” (Job 7:19–20). After being overwhelmed by a cascade of tragedies—culminating in an attack on his own body—Job feels, deep in his soul, that the only being capable of loving him unconditionally has not only abandoned him but turned against him. Today, many people feel the same way.

Some time ago, as part of the process for my student visa in Malta, I went to an office to renew my life insurance. When the agent was making copies of my documents, noticed that my university studies focused on the Bible and theology. He turned to me and said:

“My parents have a lot of faith in God. I used to believe too... but not anymore.”

After he told me that, five years earlier, his wife had given birth to a baby, but a lung condition took the child’s life just a few days after being born. With bitterness in his voice, he said,

“The baby went straight from the hospital to the funeral.”

He stepped away from the photocopier, sat down at his desk holding the copies, looked me in the eye, and asked:

“Can you explain to me what kind of God lets something like that happen to an innocent child?”

Instead of trying to justify what I didn’t understand, I chose to answer:

“I don’t know. I don’t know what kind of God allows a baby to die like that... just as I don’t understand what kind of God allows His own Son—who only did good and spoke truth—to die in the worst possible way, unjustly condemned by the very people He came to save.”

Then I added:

God also knows what it feels like to lose a child.

The intimacy of that conversation brought us close to tears. He placed the contract on the desk, I signed it, we said goodbye, and I left the insurance office with the conviction that, when we do not have an answer, the most honest thing we can do is to admit it—and to accept that some mysteries are simply beyond our understanding.

3 What did I do to Deserve this? (Job 6:24)

There are people whose desire to explain suffering causes them to lose all sensitivity to the pain of others. In Job’s story, his friends—rather than offering comfort—turned against him. First, Eliphaz, for example, speculate that Job’s suffering was God’s way of correcting him, and the best thing Job could do was accept it as a punishment: “Do not despise the discipline of the Almighty” (Job 5:17). According to Eliphaz’s logic, Job was getting what he deserved for something wrong he had done.

Second, Zophar, another of Job’s friends, went even further by claiming that Job deserved an even harsher punishment: “Oh, how I wish that God would speak, that he would open his lips against you and disclose to you the secrets of wisdom, for true wisdom has two sides. Know this: God has even forgotten some of your sin” (Job 11:5–6). Apparently, from Zophar’s point of view, Job’s suffering was not enough.

Third, Bildad, one of Job’s friends, not only harshly blamed Job for his suffering but also suggested that his children had died because of their own sin: “When your children sinned against him, he gave them over to the penalty of their sin” (Job 8:4). Bildad’s perspective is rooted in the idea of retributive justice.

Finally, even Job’s wife, instead of comforting him, urged him to give up: “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9). Besides losing his children, possessions, and health, Job experienced the loneliness of not being understood by anyone—not even his wife.

Attributing people’s suffering to personal failure only deepens their sense of guilt. While it’s true that we sometimes face the consequences of our actions, not everything that happens to us—or could happen—is the result of something we did. Today, for example, even though science has not found solid evidence that stress alone causes disease, many people believe that excessive stress leads to cancer and end up blaming the sick for their condition. Telling someone who is suffering, “That happened to you because of stress,” or “God is punishing you for something you did,” is simply a modern version of the same mistake Job’s friends made.

Although Job’s friends and his wife judged him, he remained firm in his conviction that he had done nothing to deserve such severe punishment. Besides the pain of losing his children, health, and possessions, what most troubled Job was God’s silence in response to his questions.

4 Why Doesn’t God Answer My Cries?

As we saw earlier, unlike the Preacher of Ecclesiastes, Job sees God as fully involved in His creation. That is why God’s silence is so disconcerting to him: I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me” “Though I cry, ‘Violence!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.” (Job 30:20; 19:7). Job cannot understand why God, who sees and hears everything, does not answer his questions. Is God deliberately ignoring Job?

All Job’s accusations against God make Elihu’s intervention so significant. After listening to Job, Elihu dared to speak up in God’s defence in a wise and precise manner.

But you have said in my hearing—I heard the very words—I am pure, “I have done no wrong; I am clean and free from sin. Yet God has found fault with me; he considers me his enemy. He fastens my feet in shackles; he keeps close watch on all my paths.” But I tell you, in this you are not right, for God is greater than any mortal. Why do you complain to him that he responds to no one’s words? (Job 33:8–13).

Undoubtedly, as Elihu declares, in His sovereignty, God reserves the right to answer—or not answer—our questions.

Like Job, Jesus Christ also felt abandoned by God in His suffering on the cross, which led Him to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matthew 27:46). The Father remained silent before His Son’s pain to redeem humanity. Therefore, from eternity, God chose to forsake Himself to save all who believe in Him (John 1:12).

After listening to all of Job’s arguments, God granted his request to debate with Him (Job 13:3). God’s exact words were: “Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge?” (Job 38:1–2). God confronted Job with numerous matters—among them, the profound mysteries of the universe: “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades? Can you loosen Orion’s belt? Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons or lead out the Bear with its cubs? Do you know the laws of the heavens? Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?” (Job 38:31, 33). By demanding answers, Job had—perhaps unknowingly—placed himself on equal terms with God. Nevertheless, God gave Job something far greater: a personal encounter with Himself!

Job experienced firsthand what Paul would later express: “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12). If we came to know God in the same way Job did, would we still be asking the same questions?

Furthermore, did Job fully understand what he was asking for? As an external observer, Elihu could see Job’s situation with greater objectivity and stated, “So Job opens his mouth with empty talk; without knowledge he multiplies words” (Job 35:16). In times of crisis, it is common to lose clarity; pain can lead us to express confusion, irritation, complaint, and even resentment.

Furthermore, in most of Job’s debates, he begins by replying to his friends and ends by addressing God. A switch that can be seen in one of his answers to Bildad: “I loathe my very life; therefore, I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. I say to God, do not declare me guilty but tell me what charges you have against me. Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked?” (Job 10:1–4, NIV). Therefore, more than debating, Job is in fact praying. God receives Job’s prayers and sees beyond Job’s questions into his deepest desires. As Paul writes in Romans 8:26, “We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.” Therefore, instead of giving Job what he asks for, God gives him what he truly needs.

At the end, Job realized that what he knew about God was just a drop, and what he did not know an ocean. Therefore, he came to understand that his way of thinking about how God should act toward good, and evil was only a tiny fraction of an immensely greater reality.

Reducing God to just two basic truths limit our ability to know Him deeply. This is what happened to Job’s friends, who condemned Job out of fear that his words might threaten the only truth they knew about God. As a result, they received a rebuke from God: “I am angry with you and your two friends, because you have not spoken the truth about me, as my servant Job has” (Job 42:7). This teaches us that we should not judge anyone who is suffering based on our own understanding of what is good or evil.

In Job’s case, when God saw Job’s surrender, God restored Job, giving him twice as much as he had lost. “After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes and gave him twice as much as he had before.” (Job 42:10, NIV) (Job 42). The only exception was his children. Although the first ones had died, they were still his children—only now, they were in the eternal realm.

Though God may not always respond as we expect, He knows the intentions of our hearts better than we do—and He proves it by giving us what we truly need, beyond what we say we need. That’s why, when frustration creates friction in our lives, it’s worth asking: Do we truly want to know God as He is, even if it contradicts our expectations—or are we simply seeking a version of Him that fits the comfortable image we’ve created? Moreover, Job’s story also makes it clear that when everything slips out of our control, it remains under God’s control.