Finding Good

MARGARETE HILDEBRAND

JOB'S struggle and his conviction of spiritual man's uprightness clearly illustrate the struggle of the human heart for some explanation of the bitter experiences of sin, disease, and death through which mortals seem to pass. If opposition appears to follow our honest endeavor and to hinder our steps, if sickness and distress appear to hold us in fetters, we are prone to attribute our troubles to God.

We all know the record of Job's sorrow, of his outbursts of bitterness before he recognized his material way of thinking, which "darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge." From the time of this recognition he dwelt in thought upon the perfection of God and upon the eternal facts of existence. Then he was able to make the peaceful and joyous confession, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee."

Gratification of one's material needs, physical health, and material prosperity may tend to foster a belief in personal righteousness. It was easy for Job in his prosperous days to be "a father to the poor" and a helper of the fatherless. His benevolence and goodness brought him fame and honor. But when all material support had broken down he learned, after a severe struggle, to recognize God as the origin and the eternal substance of all true existence and activity. Without doubt, Elihu's words, "And now men see not the bright light which is in the clouds: but the wind passeth, and cleanseth them," helped Job to break the dream of suffering and to understand the significance of his experiences.

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