Job 36 Devotional
by Pastor Lawrence

Which is better in your mind, to sin just a little or to be greatly afflicted? The Puritan Jeremiah Burroughs would state emphatically that “there is more evil in the least sin, than there is in the greatest affliction.” But do we really believe that? Most of us would much prefer to avoid affliction altogether then to turn our backs on all sin. And the proof of the pudding can be found in our efforts to avoid the one or the other. For we are more likely to sin in our response to an affliction then we are to undergo affliction in order to avoid sin.

In this chapter, Elihu discusses the benefits of adversity and of affliction for the righteous, and how those same circumstances cause bitterness and anger in the unrighteous. He says of the wicked in the midst of their affliction in v.13, “The godless in heart cherish anger; they do not cry for help when he binds them.” On the other hand, he describes the benefit of adversity for the righteous in v.15, saying, “He delivers the afflicted by their affliction and opens their ear by adversity.” In other words, through affliction God delivers the righteous from their pride and their sin and motivates them to look to God’s Word for comfort and relief. But because the wicked do not desire to be rid of sin and pride, they do not benefit from affliction for they only want to be rid of the adversity itself.

Elihu, seeing that Job is wavering between faith and unbelief in God during his time of affliction, warns Job in v.21 saying, “Take care; do not turn to iniquity, for this you have chosen rather than affliction.” It really is a matter of choice based upon what we desire the most. If we desire to love the Lord, we will accept any affliction from His hand. If we desire merely to love our own comfort, though, we will turn in hatred toward the God who is seeking to deliver us by our afflictions.

Let us not forget, that it was only after the Israelites were afflicted in Egypt that they desired to depart from Egypt. Thus, God used the affliction to open their ears to the redemptive message given through Moses. Disappointingly, when the Lord afflicted them again in the wilderness, they turned against God in hatred rather than trusting Him to protect and provide for them.

In 2 Corinthians 4:17 the apostle Paul speaking about our afflictions as Christians said, “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison.” Thus, in God’s understanding, every affliction that we undergo is delivering us from sinful afflictions and preparing us for a better home than that which we can find in Egypt. And even as we wander in this wasteland in the wilderness on earth, the Lord continues to afflict us to make us yearn for the real Promised Land.

Our afflictions also draw us closer to Christ while still in our mortal bodies, for in Philippians 3:10 Paul says that in addition to knowing the power of Christ’s resurrection, his desire is “to know Christ…and to share in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, so that by any means possible he might attain the resurrection from the dead.” So our afflictions are not only preparing us for glory, they are also endearing us to Christ that we might enjoy a richer fellowship with him, for our afflictions help us by weaning us from our sin and drawing us to our savior.