In Job’s reply to his friends, he continues to assert his righteousness despite his suffering and the accusations from his friends. Job realizes he cannot argue with God. God is too wise. He cannot wrestle with God; God is too strong. He cannot even plead with God; God is too aloof in this time of suffering. Through it all, the pain does not stop. Job laments that God “…will not let me get my breath, but fills me with bitterness.”

It doesn’t take near the depth of pain in my life to make me bitter. Sometimes, it comes when I don’t get what I want, or I get less than I expect, or I feel slighted, or any number of less significant hurts than those Job experienced. Loss, disappointment, pain, and suffering are just part of life. People hurt people. Sometimes we are hurt intentionally, and sometimes it’s unintentional. All of us have experienced it. We are all tempted to respond with bitterness. And sometimes, it clamps down on our lives like shackles on our legs and won’t let us go. I’ve noticed that bitterness can be more painful than the hurt I allowed to cause it.  I allow my stomach to churn, my mind to storm, and my soul to turn dark. Bitterness is one of the most dangerous plagues a Christian might catch. It will eat away at the vitality of our spiritual as well as our physical lives. It is indeed a “cancer of the soul.” As far as cancer is concerned, one website reports, “While there currently isn’t a cure for cancer, researchers are exploring several new treatments, including vaccines and gene editing, that could eventually change the face of cancer treatment.”

But, the Bible suggests that there is a cure for cancer of the soul. One of the most beautiful words in any language is the word “forgive.” The word is a common one, but the essence of the word is in the last part, “give. ” We must “give” a release to the one we’ve perceived as having harmed us. I expect that we often perceive that God has wronged us, as Job did. When inexplicable pain enters our lives, we find no object of our bitterness but God. I’d argue that God is never wrong, yet sometimes we even need to forgive God, let go of a perceived hurt, and release God as the source of our pain. The ultimate definition of faith is believing that God has my best interest foremost in mind regardless of the things I’ve suffered or am suffering at the moment. God tells us that he only allows pain in our lives for our benefit and will work it out in the end. He did this for Job, and I believe this is what God will do for me. Faith is not just believing that God exists. Even the demons do that. It’s believing that God loves us and will always bring about good in our lives.