Have you experienced situations in your life when something painful occurs, perhaps something so horrid, that even thinking such a thing could ever take place is unfathomable? When such suffering, even torment roots itself in heart and mind, do you cry out in anguish to God only to feel as Job when he declared, I go east, but He is not there. I go west but I cannot find Him. I do not see Him in the north, for He is hidden. I look to the south but He is concealed (Job 23:8-9 NLT). Does God ever truly absence Himself from us?
Jesus expressed great emotional stress when He knew the time of His agonizing death was near. He prayed the night of His arrest, O My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will (Matthew 26:39 NKJV). We know why there could be no other way; because blood had to be shed to pay the penalty for sin. In both physical and emotional agony, Jesus went to the cross trusting His Father. Job’s attitude was the same. We know this because after his declaration above, he went on to write in the next verse, But He knows the way I am going. And when He tests me, I will come out as pure gold (Job 23:10) Then Job writes in verses 11-12, and this is utterly important to anyone’s emotional well-being, I have stayed on God’s paths; I have followed His ways and not turned aside, I have not departed from His commands, but I have treasured them more than my necessary food. Job and Jesus gave us perfect examples of how to get through the most difficult suffering we could ever imagine — trust your Father anyway and wait before Him as you pour out your heart full of pain.
Henri Noun, in his book Reaching Out, wrote concerning Jesus’ depth of suffering on the cross, when a sense of both aloneness and trust met each other: “In that moment of complete emptiness all was fulfilled. In that hour of darkness new light was seen. While death was witnessed, life was affirmed. Where God’s absence was most loudly expressed, God’s presence was most profoundly revealed.” Since we know that God does not change and He is the same today as He was yesterday (Malachi 3:6 and Hebrews 13:8) then we can know, as Jesus and Job knew — He is our everything to get us through anything, and He will indeed do that very thing. Therefore, give Him your suffering today and trust in His working in your life. Joy is promised along with peace that passes all understanding. As surely as the sun rises after every dark night, so also comes joy in the morning (Psalm 30:5).