God’s Goodness and Human Suffering
The book of Job tells of one man’s struggle to comprehend how God’s goodness relates to his own suffering.
Although Job was righteous, God allowed Job to lose everything of value to him. As readers, we get to see
God’s bigger purpose in Job’s suffering. But Job did not have this perspective at the time. Instead, he was left
on his own to endure his hardships and question their meaning.
Job’s only support came from some friends who gave much poor advice and little genuine comfort. Job’s lack
of understanding about God’s purposes added to his misery. We can relate to Job’s suffering. None of us
knows the exact meaning of our own trials and hurts, but the book of Job gives us a larger perspective on
them.