Out of the depth of his agony and frustration with his three friends who charge him with sin that caused his suffering, Job cries out for God. He sobbed, “If only I knew where to find him; if only I could go to his dwelling! I would state my case before him and fill my mouth with arguments. I would find out what he would answer me, and consider what he would say.”
We are told that if we search for God with our whole heart we will find Him. Our problem is we get too distracted with the daily duties and delights that draw our attention away from God. C. S. Lewis explains how that happens in his beautiful little work “The Problem of Pain.” Adversity is essential if we are to truly turn our hearts to God.
He writes, “I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contented condition, when suddenly a stab of pain threatens serious disease, or a newspaper headline threatens us all with destruction. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happiness look like broken toys. And perhaps, by God’s grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys. Thus the terrible necessity of tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but 48 hours and then only by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him but sheathe the sword for a minute, and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over—I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness in the nearest flower bed.”
He concludes, “And that is why tribulation cannot cease until God sees us remade.”
Chuck
“What are people that you should make so much of us that you should think of us so often? For you examine us every morning and test us every moment.” (Job 7:17-18)