Two Lessons You Must Learn From Pain
Last week, I shared a word on restoration. If you missed it, check it out here.
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When Restoration Comes
Here’s an excerpt from that post:
“Restoration, following a season of pain, comes to those who refuse to give up, who forgive, who take a firm stand on seeing through God’s purpose for their lives, who take a step of faith even when persistence doesn’t make sense.”
Job refused to give up, he forgave his friends but more importantly, he didn’t throw in the towel when human logic said doing so would be ideal. I think his friends had good intentions despite their wrong judgement of the man. Maybe his wife suffered mental shock, finding herself in a rather strange and unfamiliar situation. One day she was referred to as ‘the wife of the richest man from the east.’ Next But credit to Job, he didn’t lose his head. He stumbled a bit but got back up and was finally vindicated.
This week, I asked my readers on Twitter to share what key lessons resonate with them from the story and life of Job. I would like to share two of those responses with you.
Divine Permission
Flo Edmondson wrote:
“For me, the story of Job shows everything that happens to us in life passes first through our Heavenly Father’s permission”
Flo’s words struck a cord in my heart. Divine permission! Nothing happens without God’s knowledge. He is sovereign. That should give us peace.
Beyond Comprehension
Next was Chuck McKnight who said:
“It shows me that God is beyond our comprehension or understanding” – Click here to share this truth.
Chuck’s words are truly powerful. Eternity is not enough to figure God out. He knows what is best for us, even when we don’t understand Him.
These are two great lessons we can learn in our season of pain: God knows everything that happens to us before they do and We cannot fully understand Him, yet.
How else does the story and life of Job encourage you?
About Joseph Iregbu
From a homeless, near-school-dropout to living a story worth telling. Purpose is my passion. What's your story?
Great thoughts! Thank you for sharing these.
Thanks Donya.
I am currently studying the book of Job. I absolutely agree that the lessons shared are profound. First thing that struck me was that Job really feared being poor, and guess what happened. (Job 3:25) and yes his friends were really off. Can we really comprehend God – His ways are way above ours and so are His thoughts. I have been listening to John Piper’s preaching on the book of Job – he has done a good exposition in those series.
Let me ask as you’ve pointed out to @twitter-260030929:disqus that many people quote from what his friends said. Do you think we should not? If their words made it to the Bible, they did for a reason ~ I am thinking aloud here. Thanks for the lessons on pain and hope. They are a blessing to me. God bless you.
Jep, we should use them and rightfully so too. The problem wasn’t their words but their assumptions which stemmed from the heart. The John Piper reference you mentioned is good, very good.
Thanks for the mention, Joseph! Great lessons to be learned indeed.
Thanks Chuck for your contribution. Great insight.
Great takeaways. I agree. I think Job’s friends were well meaning but completely missed the mark. It shows how often we can jump to conclusions and judge others for the circumstances they are in.
Some of the awesome quotes Christians confess and pray with from the book of Job were actually said by his friends… yet their theology on pain was way off. That’s a lot to ponder. Thanks for your insight, Eileen.