“Why is life given to a man whose path is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” (v. 3)

We’re not really surprised that Job’s pain causes him to question the goodness of life. We hurt, too, so we wonder right along with him:

Why do we live if living leaves us wounded?

Of course, we ought to run to our God with a confession of His goodness, and we ought to trust Him. His ways are higher than ours. Even through our not-good things, He is working out good. We are valuable to Him, loved by Him, and never once abandoned by him.

It will take Job, like, thirty-five chapters to even start to figure that out.

Want to know why?

It’s because, in our pain, it is hard to see the path. We feel boxed in. Our world gets smaller, and our faith narrows. We go to God with that classic prayer—Why me?—forgetting that there is more than your moment in the picture.

Be reassured: Feeling that way is not unbiblical. But staying there is.

— Tyler