Does God exist?
Topical question at the minute, as one famous person's response hit the headlines this week. There have been many beautiful and articulate responses to the "monstrous maniac" description of God, which I'm unable to replicate. But recently I've been reading a book in the Bible called Job, and it's caused a few reflections...
Maybe it's okay to argue with God.
Job is the character who loses everything. His family die, he loses all of his possessions and wealth. Oh, and then, he's afflicted by a severe skin disease. If anyone in the Bible has reason to stop believing in God, it's Job. He's got nothing going for him.
Job doesn't lose his faith. But he doesn't sit quietly either:
“I’m not letting up—I’m standing my ground.
My complaint is legitimate.
God has no right to treat me like this—it isn’t fair!
If I knew where on earth to find him, I’d go straight to him.
I’d lay my case before him face-to-face, give him all my arguments firsthand.
I’d find out exactly what he’s thinking, discover what’s going on in his head." (Job 23:1-6)
A God who's created the universe can cope with our questions. When things don't go as we think they should, when the world seems broken, maybe we're allowed to ask 'Why?"
Maybe God does know what's going on
38 chapters of questioning later, and God answers. But not in the way Job's expecting. God doesn't give a reason for suffering (otherwise we'd probably have heard it by now) but showcases the things He has created; weather and animals and mountains and stars. God doesn't state that some things should be good and others should be evil, but demonstrates the goodness in the world. And let's remember that at the beginning of Genesis, God said that it was good, then.
A God who's created the universe knows how it's supposed to be. But our world right now isn't necessarily how it's supposed to be.
Maybe there's no easy answer for injustice and pain
Job never gets to the bottom of it. After his encounter with God, all we know is that he receives more than he had before, which to me seems to be an unsatisfactory ending to such an exciting story. Great news for Job, though. And even better, his daughters are treated equally to his sons (check it out).
But the questions continue into the time of Jesus. When He was on earth, things weren't perfect then either. Jesus's friends still did stuff wrong; his friend still died; there was still inequality between rich and poor; between those who were well and those who were sick. If God on earth couldn't fix injustice and pain then, it's doesn't seem likely that it's going to be fixed today.
The Bible doesn't promise a simple answer to the whys of injustice and pain. And these whys aren't just asked by prominent famous people, but pretty much every Christian living on earth today.
Believing in God doesn't make it easier: it certainly didn't for Job. But in the middle of all of his suffering, Job says this:
"I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another." (Job 19:25-27)
So I'll keep asking questions. I'll keep asking God why. But in the middle of it all - in the middle of our suffering and broken world - I want to be confident in who my God is.
Question: from the Latin quaerere, meaning, 'to seek'.
Maybe God does know what's going on
38 chapters of questioning later, and God answers. But not in the way Job's expecting. God doesn't give a reason for suffering (otherwise we'd probably have heard it by now) but showcases the things He has created; weather and animals and mountains and stars. God doesn't state that some things should be good and others should be evil, but demonstrates the goodness in the world. And let's remember that at the beginning of Genesis, God said that it was good, then.
A God who's created the universe knows how it's supposed to be. But our world right now isn't necessarily how it's supposed to be.
Maybe there's no easy answer for injustice and pain
Job never gets to the bottom of it. After his encounter with God, all we know is that he receives more than he had before, which to me seems to be an unsatisfactory ending to such an exciting story. Great news for Job, though. And even better, his daughters are treated equally to his sons (check it out).
But the questions continue into the time of Jesus. When He was on earth, things weren't perfect then either. Jesus's friends still did stuff wrong; his friend still died; there was still inequality between rich and poor; between those who were well and those who were sick. If God on earth couldn't fix injustice and pain then, it's doesn't seem likely that it's going to be fixed today.
The Bible doesn't promise a simple answer to the whys of injustice and pain. And these whys aren't just asked by prominent famous people, but pretty much every Christian living on earth today.
Believing in God doesn't make it easier: it certainly didn't for Job. But in the middle of all of his suffering, Job says this:
"I know that my redeemer lives,
and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another." (Job 19:25-27)
So I'll keep asking questions. I'll keep asking God why. But in the middle of it all - in the middle of our suffering and broken world - I want to be confident in who my God is.
Question: from the Latin quaerere, meaning, 'to seek'.
For more on injustice, please see this wonderful article a colleague wrote last summer:
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