Are you in a difficult ‘storm’? Job in the Bible speaks powerfully into this. God doesn’t speak to Job for most of the book. However, at the end, after Job’s friends have spoken, God now chooses to speak, but He does so out of a storm. Why is this ? The text doesn’t actually tell us directly but I do believe that we can deduce four reasons:

1.God speaks out of our situation

Job had experienced many storms. He had lost everything, materially, family-wise (except his wife) and reputation. But God speaks out of the storm. He is saying “I understand”. Perhaps you are going through a difficult period, job-wise, financially or family-wise, but be in no doubt God understands what you are going through.

2.God has always been there in the storm

Despite not hearing God until then, He has been in the storm with Job watching over him the whole time .We may be tempted to think that God has abandoned us but whatever we are going through, we can be assured that He is still with us in the difficulties.

3.God demonstrates that He is Lord over the storm

Things look out of control to Job and he no longer knows what to do. But God shows He has control over the storm and is sovereign in the situation. This is exactly what we need to know to reassure us and continue to give us hope and confidence in any storm.

4.God brings order out of chaos

God immediately speaks into Job’s situation and confronts his attempts at justifying himself, that he doesn’t deserve this and that God is instead to blame! He repents and then God brings him out of the storm, restoring him physically, emotionally and materially. He is fully restored. So God is able to bring order into our lives and bring us into a better place, but in His own time. We need to trust Him, continue to look to Him and be patient.

For more on the book of Job see John Piper’s “Desiring God” article.

For how to prepare for difficult times ahead, based on Eph 6 see this article.