Much of the turmoil Job (from the OT) experienced after losing all he had was heaped upon him by “well-doers” attempting to fold his pain neatly into their boxes of cause and effect. But in the end what enables Job (or anyone else for that matter) to get through the immense and excruciating pain of loss is the belief that, though huge in scope, his pain could not out-size God.
A mistake I commonly make is viewing God as being smaller than my problems. Within this view it is much easier for me to accuse God of ignorance or ineffectiveness because I have corralled him in with me—both of us stuck inside the walls of unending trouble. The problem with this view is that my pain and fear will continue to grow ever larger unless the arms of God are able to embrace them and carry them with me.
Our pain has the potential to get so immense that we feel as if we will be crushed under its weight. Our tribulation can grow beyond our wisdom and ability to cope and to such proportions that it seems to encompass the whole earth! We begin to lose sight of where our pain starts and where it stops—it is everywhere, all of the time.
But what if God is not only bigger than tragedy and trouble but he is, in actuality, immeasurably larger than them? What if our insurmountable tribulation can be held within the cupped hands of God? What if, because of his infinite resources, God is able to help us see past the most tragic of circumstances? What wisdom could I mine from someone so large?
What if I can, for a moment, allow God to be a little bit bigger than the tribulation I endure? It is an arduous task to be sure, but I have found it is then that I slowly begin to breathe again. It is then that a little bit of new life breaks the crusty topsoil of disappointment, disillusionment, and discouragement.
Suddenly, my mind and my heart become reconnected once more. And I soon find I have a legitimate shot at upholding faith and hope for the light at the end of this very dark tunnel.
