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June 17, 2024In life there is going to be a dark night when a storm in your life will rage, what will be your reaction? Many will react like Job in the first reading, questioning God’s will and complaining. Job had gone through much and he cursed the day he was born. He never cursed God directly but came close to it because he wanted to die, thus rejecting the plan of God for his life. The book of Job is considered by many scholars the first book written in the Bible, so it is interesting that the first book of the Bible starts by humans complaining, granted Job had gone through a lot. From the beginning of time, there has been complaints about why things happen in such a way, questions arise. If God is so loving, why is there so much suffering in the world? Yet this question is not properly worded. There is suffering because of the consequences of sin. There is redemptive suffering that purifies, and there is suffering (of our own making) for the sake of suffering. Some of the things that happen in our lives are of our own making. There are choices made, and consequences to be had. Yet there is hope. Things will get better because God may be “asleep” but not deaf. God may be “asleep” but not dead. God may be “asleep” but not totally unaware to what is happening. God of course is not asleep (that’s why I put sleep in quotation marks). God is giving time for the lesson to be learned. There is an ancient work of art in a manuscript where God is depicted laying on a cloud, sleeping in a night gown, and a sleeping cap, while people below cry out for help. This is how many people may view God, when their prayer of supplication is not being answered in the here and now. God feigns sleep, but only to test the faith. This “sleeping” is done to see the reaction of those in the middle of the storm. Before crossing to the other side where there is heaven, faith must be tested. Many people who are part of the crowd do no want to be tested and expect all things to be easy in life. However, even the laws of physics state, “Every action has a reaction.” And thus is the same with life choices, a wrong choice has consequences. God allows things to happen for a reason, so a person can learn something about it. Many people are also in the same boat, or in other boats nearby, meaning many people face the same problem, and others face similar problems, but it all depends on the reaction to the storm (the problem) happening. It is important to note, even though we may think our problem are unique, it has happened before because human conduct follows certain patterns. Many people are facing the same storm, again people may react differently based on their faith. Some storms are violent. Some problems will shake the foundation of faith. Some suffering will cause confusion. Some suffering will cause a person to despair like Job and start to lose the faith. Some people may feel their situation has come to the breaking point. They feel they have been let in shatters. However, when things (problems) seem to be piling up, filling up to the point to sinking, God may be awakened. There is an expression that states, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” This quote sometimes is used for self-reliance. However, it can be amended, “When the going gets tough, it’s time to talk to God.” It’s not time to give up, but to trust in God. It’s time to “wake” God, who was just waiting there the whole time to be awaken. Our reaction something is not to go to the right Source who can help right away, but to try to fix it ourselves until we are left in pieces. Take the water out of the boat ourselves. It is only when things get worse, when sinking is inevitable that we come to the right source, who had been there in the middle of the boat all along. But even after ignoring God, and finally coming to God, it is only to tell God, “Do you not care we are perishing?” There is a slight to God, a complaint to God. Like saying, “You should have known better! Why have you let me pass through all this storm?” And yet the answer will be so that faith may be tested, and virtue may grow. Sometimes the problems are of our own making, and then we want to blame God for not helping. God will calm the storm, and a great calm will ensue but not without the lesson learned. Even in suffering, obedience can be learned. Even in the storm, faith can be strengthened.
