Some years ago, I heard a teacher talking about the biblical character Job. He that Job teaches us this: “Just because your life is falling apart doesn’t necessarily mean you are doing something wrong. It might mean that you are doing something right.”

At the time, I was in a hard place. I was unemployed, having followed what I thought was the voice of God. After I committed myself to a course of action, absolutely nothing happened as I had expected. On top of that, my wife was using the “d” word a lot. Further, I was dealing with a teenager who seemed determined to wreck his life and mine, too. And I confess, the statement about Job was music to my ears and it lifted my spirit. Yet, for many long months, nothing changed in my circumstances.

And the questions came, legitimate questions, of where is God in all this? Where is the God who said he wanted to bless me and not curse me? Where is the God who said that as I delight myself in him, he would give me the desires of my heart? Where is the God who claimed to love me enough to die in my place? He’s hard to see in these times.

It seems to me that the God that many Christians claim to worship, and the Christianity that they claim to follow, doesn’t work very well in the real world. By that I mean that it’s a good thing to be a “Christian,” when everything is going our way. It’s even a good thing even if only some things are going our way. And perhaps it’s still a good thing when little or nothing is going our way, as long as it doesn’t last too long. You know, we can tough it out through some pretty hard times if we know there is an end to them -- one not too far down the road -- and that we are headed straight toward it. It’s like going to the dentist for a root canal: We can stand it for a while because we know it has a good purpose and it will end, but even the dentist doesn’t want to live in a dentist’s chair. But when we hurt and we don’t know why, and we don’t know when – if ever – it will end, then is the test of our faith.

Most of the rest of the world would find this a strange attitude, indeed, this idea of things going our way. Christians in most of the world suffer greatly precisely because they claim the name of Jesus. An expectation that a Christian would not suffer is incomprehensible. Christians stand – by their very existence – against evil. Of course they will suffer. And this was the attitude of much of the early church, as well.

How do we deal with these things? They are important: matters of life and death. And, I fear, the “solution” for many of us is to live in denial. We have no answer, and the question is just too hard to think about, so we block it out. However, denial doesn’t work. The questions are real and will not be denied. One way or another, sooner or later, we have to address them. Either we reconcile this conflict, or we will walk away from the God of the Bible. And many have indeed walked away. They have chosen to live with their own God, in their own reality, if that is possible.

I think part of the answer is to try to understand the nature of this world and what God is doing in it. Why does he let hard things happen to us? What is the big picture that all of this fits into? To know the answer to that, we have to go to the Bible. Anything else leaves us with only speculation and opinion, not good materials on which to build a life.

We must point out first that God never intended for us to live in a world of pain and suffering. That came about as a result of our ancestors rebelling, and saying to God, “We don’t trust you, and we don’t need you.” And every generation down to our own has endorsed their decision. We have said, by our own words and lives, “God, I think I can live a perfectly satisfactory life without you. So please go away and don’t bother me.” Here is sin, and here we find the source of suffering, not in some malevolent “will of God.”

God’s intent was that we live in a place of intimate fellowship with him, loving him and being loved by him, knowing him face to face. It was his further intent that we be his partners in transforming the earth from chaos to order and productivity. Read the first two or three chapters of Genesis.

And now, since the option of spreading the Garden of Eden to cover the earth is long past, his intent is that we be his partners in redeeming what was lost, and bringing about reconciliation between people and God (II Cor. 5). It’s important to know and remember this when trying to understand the world around us, and the hard times in our lives.

I recently hired a person for a new supervisory position where I work. I didn’t have the budget to hire highly experienced applicants, so I looked for potential. I wanted someone who was smart, motivated, of high character, and someone whose personality clicked with me and the rest of my staff.

The person I hired is in fact doing well, and will very quickly be an asset. But part of her training process is to spend time knowing me, learning how I think, facing problems, learning ways of dealing with difficult people, and more. Before I “turn her loose,” I will have to know that I can trust her, and that she knows me well enough to know what I would want done in situations where I am not available.

God faces the same situation. He wants someone to be his junior partner in managing the world. But he has to “hire” potential, since experienced people are in very short supply. And complicating things more, the job description calls for only members of the family in these positions. So he puts those who join his “staff” -- those who are adopted into his family -- through a rigorous training and testing time, to know him and how he would have them act on his behalf. Before we are entrusted with God’s authority, we have to truly know him, we have to be found utterly trustworthy to represent him, and we have to understand the task to which we are called.

And the task to which God calls us is unimaginable. How awesome is it to be called by the True and Living God, the Creator and Sustainer of all that is, to be his sons and daughters, and his partners in the task of reconciliation of creation? If that idea doesn’t stop you for a minute, you aren’t paying attention. But the nature of that call has another side: It means we will suffer. Read the accounts of what happened to various of God’s people. Look at the prophets in the Old Testament. Look at the apostles in the New Testament. Look, especially, at Jesus.

So, if we consider the end for which we are preparing, and that the reconciliation process is in fact a war for the lives of people, how can we be surprised that we suffer? How can we be surprised that we are called to a life of trial and toughness, and yet a heart of tenderness? Fluffy, ease-loving people are not much good for important tasks, because such tasks are never easy.

So, I ask the question, “God, why is there so much pain in my life?” And I hear the answer, “Why should there not be pain in your life? Look at the world you live in, and the mission on which you are sent. Look at the one who is your redeemer and leader.”

The life of a follower of Jesus is sometimes a hard life, but the high calling involved makes it worth it all. Don’t give up. Ask God to build your strength. Ask God to show you that his strength is your strength, and your task is to remain snuggled as close as possible to him.

And he is faithful. He never fails. Hallelujah.