Experience of Suffering as A Way to a Deeper Knowledge of God an Analysis of Job 42:1-6
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Date
2014
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Tangaza University College
Abstract
Suffering has been a perennial problem for all human beings in all
generations. When a person encounters suffering, he or she is forced to ask questions
that are fundamental to human existence: Why suffering? Why me? What is the
purpose of my existence? Recently I had an encounter with two different people at
different times. Both of them had gone through some kind of misfortune in their
lives. I met the first one in Ghana when I went for my holidays in July 2012, at a
valley of prayer managed by the Conventual Franciscans. He had come for a
monthly recollection organized by the friars. He had been involved in an accident in
which his two kids passed away, and he had his leg amputated. The surprising thing
is that he looked serene and sober, no sign of bitterness at his condition. As we got
into a conversation he told me he is not bitter because surprisingly even for himself
he has come much closer to God than he was. He said he feels God’s presence in his
life more than ever before. The accident has been a blessing in disguise for him.
I met the other man in Tanzania the following year, in July 2013. He had
cancer and was struggling to find money for his treatment. I could see the pain and
bitterness that was on his face. He was filled with anger, and as we talked the first
thing that came out of his mouth was what everybody in his situation would ask: why me? Like Job, he refused to understand why such a thing would happen to him.
What sin had he committed to undergo such pain and suffering?
As I listened to him, I started making a comparison between this man and the
other who had lost his two children and was himself amputated after an accident. I
began to wonder what could have made the difference between the two of them.
How come one was filled with joy and serenity and the other was full of bitterness
and anger? Was it that one was suffering more than the other, or one had just learnt
to let go and live the life he has?
As I pondered these questions in my mind, I thought of the answer Job made
to God after the latter had spoken from the whirlwind: “I had heard of thee by the
hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees thee” (Job 42:5). I saw some kind of
similarity in this answer of Job and the man who had lost his two children and had
his leg amputated. I thought it might be a good idea to see why some people go
through some misfortunes and come out stronger while others become bitter.
Through the lens of Job, I want to explore this phenomenon. I want to see
how we can get to a deeper and personal communion with God through our
experience of suffering. This is going to be done in an exegetical manner, using Job
42:1-6 as our guiding text. In analyzing this text, we will also see how suffering has
been understood in the bible as well as how one comes to a deeper knowledge and
understanding of God. This will lead us to our main concern: how suffering brings
us into communion with God. It is worth mentioning here that in using the term
“knowledge”, I refer not just to intellectual knowing, but knowing that embodies the
whole person, leading to a deeper and intimate relationship between people.
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Keywords
Suffering, Knowledge, God, Job 42:1-6