One of the most realistic stories in the Bible is the story of Job and his troubles.
Job was a good and righteous man whom God blessed abundantly. God blessed him with seven sons and three daughters, a total of ten children, the number which signaled completeness. Likewise, God blessed Job with seven thousand sheep and three thousand camels, again seven plus three, giving us the number of perfection.
Furthermore, God blessed Job with five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys which also adds up to the perfect number of ten. In other words, the writer of Job wants to make it "perfectly clear" that Job was especially blessed by God. Indeed we are told that Job was the greatest of all the people of the east (1:3). He was so wealthy that each of his sons had an establishment of his own, and they held a family feast each day with the sons taking turns serving as hosts. This too is another sign of blessing for Job. There was harmony in his family. His children all got along with each other. Furthermore, the biblical text underscores the fact that Job was just as righteous as he was rich and just as good as he was great. In gaining material blessings he did not compromise his soul. In fact, Job was so good and righteous that he had the distinction of having God brag on him! We are told in verse 8 that "the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one like him on earth, a blameless and upright man who fears God and turns away from evil.' "
But one day, like strikes of lightning, four different messengers came to inform Job that trouble had come. One told him his oxen and donkeys had been stolen. The second messenger told him his sheep had been burned up. The third messenger informed him that his camels had been stolen and his servants slain. But the worst was yet to come. A fourth servant arrived and announced the greatest calamity of all. He told Job that each of his seven sons and three daughters had been killed in a hurricane while they were feasting together at the home of the eldest son.
In sum, within a brief period of time, everything that Job had worked for and cherished was lost, and with the exception of his wife, he was left poverty-stricken and alone. So the question arose for Job: What would he do now that trouble had come? Everybody knew what he did when things were going well with him and trouble had not come. But what would he do now that he had received a quadruple dose of trouble?
Well, Job's wife assessed the situation and offered Job a quick way out. She said to him, "Do you still persist in your integrity? Curse God and die."
The Women's Bible Commentary notes: "Job's wife is the one who recognizes, long before Job himself does, what is at stake theologically in innocent suffering: the conflict between innocence and integrity, on the one hand, and an affirmation of the goodness of God on the other."1
Job did not follow the advice of his wife, but her words did challenge his thinking. He responded with a question: "Shall we receive the good at the hand of God, and not receive the bad?" (2:10).
Job's question is a question which acknowledges the reality of trouble in his life in spite of his righteousness. He now knew that his righteousness did not necessarily exempt him from trouble. Trouble is an equal opportunity employer. Trouble is a democratic process which does not discriminate against anyone. That is why the title of this sermon is not "If Trouble Comes" or "Trouble Might Come," but "When Trouble Comes." Either we have just come out of a storm or we are in one now. Or one is on the way! Into every life some rain must fall! Jesus never promised us that we would never have trouble. Jesus said: "In this world you face persecution" (John 16:33).
So the issue now for Job was not whether trouble also comes to the righteous. Trouble had already come into his life. The issue for Job was what to do now that trouble had already come. In fact, I believe that what happens to us is not as important as how we respond to it.
One response available to Job was the one suggested by his wife. He could have resigned and given up his faith in God.
Surely this was one of the response options available to our African American forefathers and foremothers in the face of the troubling contradictions which challenged their faith in the midst of slavery. They observed that many of the people who dealt in the slave traffic were Christians. One of the famous hymn writers, Sir John Newton, made his money from the sale of slaves to the New World. They were troubled by the fact that one famous British slave vessel was named Jesus. They were troubled by the fact that the people who bought the slaves were Christians. Likewise, they were troubled by the fact that many Christian ministers, quoting the apostle Paul, gave the sanction of religion to the system of slavery.
Yet in the face of such troubling contradictions, our slave forefathers and foremothers, in their innocent suffering, did not resign and give up their faith in God. To be sure, they had a stubborn faith that enabled them to discern the difference between the God of Christianity and the people who failed to practice it. This discernment is evident in the words of one of the songs they sang: "I've got a robe; you've got a robe. All God's children got a robe. When I get to heaven I'm gonna put on my robe; I'm gonna shout all over God's heaven." And then they looked up at the Big House where the slavemaster lived and they said, "Everybody talking 'bout heaven and going there, heaven, heaven, I'm gonna shout all over God's heaven."
They also sang another song in which they began by saying, "Over my head I see trouble in the air." But then they concluded, "There must be a God somewhere!" Like Job, even though they did not understand their troubles, they refused to resign their faith and let their troubles separate them from God.
Another response option available to Job in the midst of his trouble was the option to rejoice. In fact, it is noteworthy to observe the response of Job after he received the bad news reports of the four messengers in chapter one. According to verses 20 and 21, "Job arose, tore his robe, shaved his head, and fell on the ground and worshipped. He said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return there; the Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed is the name of the Lord.' "
Here Job captures the spirit of the apostle Paul when he said: "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18). Paul did not say give thanks for everything. Paul said "in" everything give thanks. We can give thanks in trouble because God is with us in trouble to help us accept it and handle it.
Another witness comes to mind. Arthur Ashe, former U.S. champion tennis player, unknowingly and innocently contracted AIDS through a blood transfusion when he underwent a heart-bypass surgery in 1983. At that time hospitals were not checking blood samples for the AIDS virus. He was told he had the virus when he had to have brain surgery in 1988. He had planned to keep the matter a family secret until the news media forced him to confirm or deny the rumor in 1992.
Like Job, Arthur Ashe was faced with the temptation to curse God, resign and give up faith in God. He was tempted to ask, "Why me?" But he said, "If I were to say, 'God, why me?' about the bad things, then I should have said, 'God, why me?' about the good things in life." He said, "Why not me? Why should I be spared what some others have been infected with? And I have to think of all the good of my life, of having a great wife and family and friends and winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open and playing for and coaching the Davis Cup team, and getting a free scholarship to U.C.L.A. You could also ask about this, 'Why me?' I have always had a religious faith, growing up in the South and having the church as a focal point of my life."2
This is the kind of faith that can rejoice and thank God even in the midst of trouble. This is the faith that can worship when trouble comes and celebrate a God who is bigger than any trouble that comes to us.
1. The Women's Bible Commentary, editors Carol Newsom and Sharon Ringe (Louisville: Westminster/John Knox Press), p. 132.
2. Dennis Kimbro, Daily Motivations for African Americans (New York: Fawcett Press), p. 86.