How Long, O Lord?

Reading through Job is neither easy nor fun.  Yesterday,  my mind contemplated skipping to the end where restoration and redemption abounded.  Yet in order to grasp the whole picture, I had to press on.

"Why doesn't the Almighty open the court and bring judgment? Why must the godly wait for him in vain? Evil people steal land by moving the boundary markers. They steal flocks of sheep, and they even take donkeys from the poor and fatherless. A poor widow must surrender her valuable ox as collateral for a loan. The poor are kicked aside; the needy must hide together for safety . . . The groans of the dying rise from the city, and the wounded cry for help, yet God does not respond to their moaning . . . The murderer rises in the early dawn to kill the poor and needy . . . the adulterer waits for twilight and says 'No one will see me' " (Job. 24:1-4, 12, 14-15)

Not the most comforting words to read in the morning, as I sit with my coffee cup in hand and look for words of life to feed my soul.  Why isn't God bringing justice?   Why does He allow suffering?  Oh I've asked it so many times myself.  My bathroom floor is oftentimes where I end up when the tears flow most freely and the cries of my heart are laced with why.  Sorrow grips my heart when I hear stories of abuse, rejection, and loss.  There are moments I find it hard to even do the next thing when I reflect upon my own daughter's pain, which is steeped in lies regarding her beauty and worth.  In my despair, I have said many times, "How long, O Lord?" 

Today, as I pick up where I left off, with coffee in hand, words of life do indeed break through, "And this is what God says to all humanity, 'The fear of the Lord is true wisdom.'" (Job 28:28)  It amazes me that in the midst of despair, Job comes back to this.  In the beginning when he lost it all, he did not curse God, and as the days passed and his grief deepened, he kept coming back to revering the Lord.  God in His infinite wisdom had to see and know something that Job didn't.  All this suffering had to somehow make sense to the Almighty, and Job was not going to let up until his case would be heard.   The enemy was convinced that Job would crumble when all was stripped away, yet God knew Job would endure.  God knew!  Wisdom would prevail, and Job would be restored.

Oh Lord, You know!  When all seems lost and words fail, this is how I can get back up and keep going.  The tears shed on my bathroom floor are not in vain.  The why questions that plague my heart are heard by the Almighty, and I find the peace and strength I need to press on.

He knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold!  (Job 23:10)