Job Wrestles With Why
Month 6: Hard Questions · Bible Story
Today's Scripture
Read together: Job 1:13-22 & Job 2:7-10
13 One day, while Job’s sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 14 a messenger came and reported to Job: “While the oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby, 15 the Sabeans swooped down and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The fire of God fell from heaven. It burned and consumed the sheep and the servants, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “The Chaldeans formed three bands, raided the camels, and took them away. They put the servants to the sword, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 18 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and reported: “Your sons and daughters were eating and drinking wine in their oldest brother’s house, 19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on the young people and they are dead, and I alone have escaped to tell you!” 20 Then Job stood up, tore his robe, and shaved his head. He fell to the ground and worshiped, 21 saying: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.” 22 In all this, Job did not sin or charge God with wrongdoing. — Job 1:13-22
7 So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD and infected Job with terrible boils from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. 8 And Job took a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself as he sat among the ashes. 9 Then Job’s wife said to him, “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die!” 10 “You speak as a foolish woman speaks,” he told her. “Should we accept from God only good and not adversity?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said. — 2:7-10
Memory Verse
“I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us.”— Romans 8:18 (BSB)memorize this week
📖 Bible-in-a-Year (optional)
Today's reading: 1 Samuel 1-4
Reading the whole Bible in a year — do this when you have extra time. (Hannah's tears turn to a son given back to God.)The Heart of It
In a single terrible day, Job lost almost everything. He lost his animals. He lost his servants. He even lost all ten of his children. Then his own body broke out in painful sores. Job had done nothing to deserve this. The Bible calls him "blameless and upright." So Job did the most honest thing a hurting person can do. He fell to the ground and worshiped. And he asked the hard question. Why? Now notice what he did not do. The Bible says, "In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong" (). You can be heartbroken. You can be full of questions. And you can still hold onto God at the same time.
This is one of the most important things a disciple can learn early. God is big enough for our hardest questions. Job didn't pretend he was fine. But he didn't walk away from God either. His wife told him to "curse God and die." Job answered, "Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?" (). Job didn't have all the answers. And God doesn't always give us the why right away. But Job knew the One he was talking to was good and faithful. You can bring your "why" to God instead of shouting it at the sky. That is not weak faith. That is faith.
Around the Table
Job had a very sad day, but he still talked to God instead of running away. When we're sad, we can talk to God too.
Let's do it: Make a sad face, then fold your hands and say, "God, I'm sad, but I trust You."
Job asked God "why?" and that was okay. He didn't pretend he was happy, but he didn't quit on God either.
Let's talk: What is something hard you've wondered about that you could bring to God in prayer?
Job shows us that faith and honest questions can live in the same heart. He never got a tidy explanation. Yet he never let go of God.
Let's go deeper: Why do you think God lets His people ask hard questions instead of demanding they just be quiet?
💬 Conversation Starter
What's the hardest "why" question you've ever asked a grown-up? Did you get an answer right away, or did you have to wait?
🛡️ Defending the Faith
Sometimes someone says that suffering means there's no God. We can gently answer that the Bible never hides from pain. A whole book of it, the book of Job, is about suffering. Christianity doesn't pretend life is easy. It gives us a good God to bring our hardest questions to (). And we bring them with kindness, not arguing.
For Dad · Go Deeper
Job teaches something our culture badly needs. Lament is not the opposite of faith. It is one of faith's languages. The Psalms model it too. Roughly a third of them are cries of complaint that still end facing toward God. So let your children watch you bring grief and confusion to the Lord. Don't bury it, and don't aim it at Him. When you do this, you give them a category for suffering that won't shatter their faith later. The world will hand them the problem of evil as a knockout punch. Help them meet Job first, so they learn that honest wrestling belongs inside a believing relationship, not outside it.
Draws on: Tim Keller, Walking with God through Pain and Suffering.
Let's Pray Together
"Father, thank You that You are big enough for our hardest questions. When life hurts and we don't understand, help us run to You and not away from You, like Job did. We trust that You are still good. In Jesus' name, amen."
I can ask God my hardest "why" and still hold tightly to His hand.