What Did Job Mean We Should "Receive Evil" from God?

  A preview of November's email-only article.

Job on the Ash Heap: Job Berated by His Wife, Jusepe de Ribera (c. 1632)

Every month I publish an exclusive article for my email subscribers. (If you'd like to join the club, fill out the form below. It's free!)

In this month's subscriber email we're examining what Job meant when he said we should "receive evil" from God.

Here's how the article starts:

Stop me if you've heard this one.

A friend, family member, or coworker has a terrible thing happen. Car accident, layoff, death of a family member. Now he is "mad at God" because, "How could he let this happen?" Once he was a Christian, now he's not so sure he can believe in God who would cause so much pain.

No doubt you know someone firsthand or have heard tell of such a tale thirdhand. Maybe that person I just described is you.

Why is this story so common?

I think the reason is quite simple. Human beings, created in God's image, are designed for eternity. We are meant to live in harmony and peace with him forever. This destiny is embedded in our psyche, woven into our DNA. The story of Adam and Eve in the garden of eternal bliss and the promise of eternity in glory with our heavenly father are as natural to us as breathing. We anticipate harmony without even being conscious of said anticipation. Why?

 
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Your Utmost Is Not Enough

Learning to trust God even when life doesn't make sense.

J W

If you've ever been disillusioned with life or disappointed with God, no doubt the emotion was born from a mismatch of expectation and reality.

You expected a long and prosperous life, not one shortened by cancer. You expected to be in your dream job forever, not to be laid off because of hard economic times. You anticipated your children growing up to follow the Lord, but they have turned away from the faith.

These unrealized futures send a shock to our systems, and God, being the omnipotent, omniscient being he is sometimes bears the brunt of our rage and bitterness. As natural as these responses seem amidst the throes of tragedy, in the end, we're only hurting ourselves.

But where do these expectations come from? Who says we're guaranteed a long life of prosperity or an existence free from conflict?