Q & A WITH A READER ON CHRISTIAN SUFFERING

Q & A WITH A READER ON CHRISTIAN SUFFERING 

Thank you,  Daktari. 

I have sat somewhere and carefully read the article. It is of interest to me, having gone through so many seasons of pain in my Christian life.

It is especially painful when God is silent. No matter the many times I pray.

I have a few clarifications to seek:

Q1. If Job’s suffering was permitted by God but Job was never told the heavenly reason for his suffering, does the book of Job teach us to explain suffering, or does it teach us to trust God when His purposes remain hidden?

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RESPONSE 

We may never fully comprehend or explain why God takes us through difficult circumstances in life. However, we are persuaded by the teaching of Scripture that God's divine purposes are fulfilled even under those painful circumstances. James 1:2-4 read together with Psalm 34:17-19 and other relevant passages of Scripture supply a theological hint. They encourage us to be patient with God whenever we suffer afflictions because God uses them to fortify our faith. Notice Job's concluding statement in Job 42:1-6. He finally admitted that he spoke from ignorance and repented in humility and in submission to God (vv.5-6). He confesses thus:

"I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear,

But now my eye sees You.

6 Therefore I abhor myself,

And repent in dust and ashes."

God proclaims in Isaiah 55:8-9:

"For My thoughts are not your thoughts,

Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.

9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth,

So are My ways higher than your ways,

And My thoughts than your thoughts."

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Q2. In the article, you write that Job “rightly recognized and accepted that his suffering was within God's permissive will,” yet Job spends much of the book questioning, lamenting and demanding an explanation from God. Does biblical faith require us to understand and accept the reason for our suffering, or does Job show that faithful lament and questioning can coexist with genuine faith?

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RESPONSE 

Genuine faith coexists with the paradoxes of life. Job was expressing his natural human emotions. He lamented about his suffering but when God finally spoke, God's revelation came to him with compelling clarity. Job humbled himself before God and accepted that his suffering served God's purposes. This is perhaps the most critical lesson that we can draw from the text. 

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Q3. Does Satan still appear before God as he used to then?

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RESPONSE 

This is a difficult theological question. Some dispensationalism Bible scholars consider the vision conveyed in Revelation 12:7-12 as evidence that Satan can still access the presence of God until God's appointed time is fulfilled when he will be denied access. They consider the vision as a piece of futuristic eschatology that would be literally fulfilled. They argue that Satan can still access heaven but only on God's permission just as He permitted Satan to appear before Him in Job 1:6-12. 

Scholars who subscribe to the historicist and preterist views argue that the vision is allegorical or symbolic of events that took place in eternity past when Satan was expelled from heaven. They insist that Satan no longer has access to heaven following his rebellion and expulsion from the presence of God (cf. Isaiah 14:12-21). They claim that after Calvary, Satan is a persona non grata in the third heaven where God's divine presence reigns. 

My view is that whether Satan can still access heaven or not is immaterial to our Christian faith. He cannot hinder our access to our heavenly Father. Christ's defeat of Satan at the cross of Calvary settled our future with God. Nothing can separate us from the love of God. 

Hebrews 4:14-16 says:

"Seeing then that we have a great High Priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. 15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. 16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." (NKJV). 

Shalom 

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Dr. E Kimosop 

23/9/2026