MONITE SUNE 1, 2026
SIOPE 21-23; SAAME 88:1-18
We face spiritual danger when we think God is distant, inactive, or unreachable.
Te tau to ki ha faingata’a fakalaumalie ‘i he taimi ‘oku tau fakakaukau ai ‘oku mama’o ‘a e ‘Otua, ‘ikai ngāue, pe faingata’a ke tokanga mai.
I have counseled many people during times of trouble and difficulty. Their problems loom so large, dominating their thoughts and clouding their hearts, that they are tempted to believe that God doesn't exist or that he has forsaken them. They think their prayers are not powerful enough to penetrate the ceiling, let alone reach God. What do you do when you're in times of intense suffering? What do you say to yourself? What happens to your spiritual life? We live in a world that is broken, and so bad things happen to us. Times of trial turn our lives dark. We face physical suffering, relational disappointment, and situational struggles. These problems seem so big that they confront us as soon as we awake, dominate our thoughts during the day, and make sleeping difficult at night. Suffering is the universal experience of people living in a world that is groaning, waiting for its final redemption.
The book of Job invites us into the sacred space of a suffering man's struggle with God. We get to eavesdrop on the private conversations between Job and God. We get to walk down the corridors of Job's heart. As we look in and listen to Job, we realize that our struggles are not new or uncommon. We experience the same kinds of struggles that God's children have always endured. In his suffering, Job puts words to our questions and our cries:
Behold, I go forward, but he is not there,
and backward, but I do not perceive him;
on the left hand when he is working, I do not behold him;
he turns to the right hand, but I do not see him. (Job 23:8-9)
As part of the travail of living in this fallen world, we all go through times when it seems as though God has left us alone in our suffering. If you have suffered deeply, if loss has changed your life forever, or if something has come into your life that you did not expect and did not want, then you can relate to Job's words.
Why has this private conversation been recorded for us? Why have we been invited into the sacred space of a man's struggle with God? The answer is that God loves us. In the tenderness of his love and mercy, and with his knowledge of the brokenness of the world we live in, God lets us know that he sees and cares about what we are going through. And, because he does, he will make everything new again. Your Lord knows-and has already set in motion-our final, glorious renewal
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