The Book of Job Can Help You When You Suffer - HOW THE ACCOUNT OF JOB HELPS US TO ENDURE

 Picture Job as he sat alone in ashes, covered in boils and bent double in pain. His skin blackened from the disease, peeled away from his emaciated frame. Physically exhausted, Job may have appeared to be doing little but scraping himself with pieces of broken pottery and giving vent to his despair. But Job was not merely surviving, he was enduring. (Read James 5:11.) What helped Job to endure? 

Job expressed his emotions to Jehovah. (Job 10:1, 2; 16:20) For example, chapter 3 tells us that Job complained bitterly about the tragedies that had befallen him, which he mistakenly assumed Jehovah had caused. Then is a series of debates with his three companions, Job strongly defended his integrity, often directing his responses to Jehovah. Job's words suggest that for a time he considered himself to be more righteous than God. (Job 10:1-3; 32:1, 2; 35:1, 2) In reality, though, he admitted his efforts to defend his integrity sometimes amounted to "wild talk." (Job 6:3, 26) In chapter 31, we read that Job spoke of wanting to be exonerated by God. (Job 31:35) Of course, Job was wrong to demand a direct answer from God as to what was behind his suffering. 

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