Beaten, Bruised Faith

Beaten, Bruised Faith

Though he slay me, I will hope in him. Job 13:15, ESV

JOB THOUGHT HE HAD BEEN beaten up by God. From all appearances, the hand of the Almighty was against him. He didn’t see the divine controversy behind the scenes that provoked his time of testing, but even if he had, he might have said the same thing. After all, the vagaries of circumstance and the strategies of spiritual adversaries still have to answer to a sovereign God. If Job hadn’t been beaten up by God, he had been beaten up by forces that God had allowed. Regardless of the cause, he saw himself on the Creator’s bad side.

That’s easy to do. When we encounter spiritual resistance, circumstantial misfortune, pointed opposition, or what the world calls plain bad luck, we start to feel as if God is no longer on our side. Even when we remain on his side—though we can all think of times we’ve failed—we start to wonder if his promises for those who believe still apply to people like us, who believe only weakly at times. A round of illness, a season of conflict, a string of setbacks, a few days of bad moods or bad weather—literally or figuratively—can throw us into an existential crisis. We wonder what we’ve done wrong. And if we can’t think of anything important enough to provoke this kind of divine response, we wonder if God has abandoned us.

He hasn’t, of course. Faith sees through this kind of fog, even when it sees only vaguely. Job went on to say that he would argue his case before God—a statement no human can make without trust in the Almighty’s character, mercy, and love. We cannot proceed into this courtroom without confidence in who God is. We have to know he is on the side of justice and love—and forgiveness for when things go wrong.

That’s faith. Even when the world is crumbling around us, we can trust and believe in the God who loves us. Even when nothing makes sense, we can envision mercy and restoration in times to come. The prayer of faith banks on such things; the heart depends on them as life itself. And God responds—in time—with abundant blessings and grace.

All our difficulties are only platforms for the manifestation of his grace, power, and love.