I also could speak like you, if you were in my place; I could make fine speeches against you and shake my head at you. – Job 16:4

Today’s Scripture Readings (March 27, 2012): Job 16

I have a question. Did God know that we would go through the pain that we go through? The most common response to the question is that God did not make the choices that have placed us where we are. And the responses are right. But the question still remains, did God see the decisions that we would make. Did God know when he created Adam and Eve that, in the end, his creation was going to go so wrong?

For me, the answer is no. Oh, I believe that God knew of all of the possibilities, but not which decisions we would make. He created us free, with the ability to choose. And so choose we have. The consequences that we now surround ourselves with are due to the choices we have made. But I know that there are those that would argue with me. For them, all of the decisions that we make were known before the beginning of time. God gave us the freedom to choose, but part of his omniscient character is that he also knew the choices that we would make.

Maybe it is a question that cannot be answered – at least not this side of eternity. But the one thing we do know is that God has called us from the beginning to be the wounded healers. Whether or not God knew that we would go through the struggles that have plagued us, he did - and does - have a purpose for us in the middle of our pain. Because we are the only ones that truly understand the pain that others are going through. It is because of our personal pain that we have the right to speak into someone else’s pain.

And that was the complaint that Job had against his friends. Because they had never gone through the things that Job was now experiencing, they really couldn’t speak into his pain. They just didn’t know what it was that he was going through.

If there is pain in your life, I don’t know if God before the beginning of time knew that you were going to go through it. I do believe that he knew it would be a possibility, but that possibility wasn’t enough for him to want to take away your freedom to choose. But it also does not mean that God does not have a purpose for you. There are Job’s in your life right now that only you have the right to speak to – because you are the one in their circle of friends that share their pain.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: Job 17