It seems like a long time ago that I began my morning with the prayer, "Lord, I need a break; could You give me an easy day?" What ensued could have shaken the patience of Job. It was one trial on top of another until I just threw my hands up to Heaven and shouted, "You win; I give up." I flipped open my Bible to the Book of Job, and just like that, the pressure let up. Talk about patience under fire. It was in Job that I began to understand why good people suffer.

Job was upright — blameless. God admitted he was destroyed without cause. We sit here and think, "How horrible." Yet we'd do the same as his "buddies," insisting he'd brought this on himself, demanding he admit the evil of his ways and beg forgiveness. Then we'd go off thinking how righteous we must be that such a thing had not happened to us. After all, if God is in complete control, wouldn't He want to set us on high as an example of what comes from obeying Him?

Well, let's read Satan's words: "It is not for nothing that Job is faithful ... leave him in my hands, and you'll see how fast he curses you." How'd you like to fall into that situation? Why would God do such a thing to someone who totally trusts Him? To address this question, let's create a scenario.

Joe, who lives next door, is successful at everything he does. His lush lawn never has dandelions and he grows great tomatoes. His kids are honor role student athletes, and his wife is Donna Reed. When he drives, all the lights change to green for him, and now you hear he's won the lottery.

"How do you do it? What's your secret?" you ask him.

"I keep the commandments of the Almighty."

You're amazed. "The Ten Commandments?"

"And all they entail," Joe answers. "I give a tenth of all to the poor, pray three times a day, yadda yadda ... and God blesses all I do as a result."

Wow, you think. I've gotta try that. So you do the same and God begins to bless you. So then Satan was right — God really is buying your loyalty. And just what are you learning? That all those other suffering masses deserve what they get. But you can't observe God's laws perfectly, so where is the line drawn? Then there's that other Guy — the One who did keep it all perfectly. What happened to Him? And why should we get better treatment if we are to take up His cross and follow?

Then God showed up to ask if Job had happened to notice the creation around and above him and challenged Job for an answer to it all — an answer to the question, what is the purpose of life? Job shut his mouth, as we would, realizing that the whole thing was far greater than his imagination could contain. The last few verses of Job indicate that, after all was said and done, God restored everything to Job.

This last portion may be prophetic — for Job as well as for us. We will regain all at Jesus' return. God is using this life to teach us compassion and forgiveness. He is teaching us that we don't know all the answers. These are things we only learn from trials. If Job could suffer such, if Jesus could sacrifice Himself as He did, then we must be willing to expect the same. In the epistle of James, we get the idea that God promises to heal us of our afflictions — immediately. We go to the elders for anointing, but when nothing happens, we think there is something wrong with our faith.

James 5:14-15 says, "Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered up in faith shall make the sick person well."

When one is consecrated into God's service, the individual is anointed with oil and hands are laid upon his/her head. This signifies "a coming under God's control." From then on, we are God's to use as He sees fit. In James' letter, he isn't really referring to physical sickness, but emotional disturbance. The word "sick," translated from Greek, really means, "troubled of mind." One comes under the anointing to refocus on the fact that God is in charge and they should not allow such occurrences in the physical life to discourage them.

Often, in the past, I'd pray for an easy day. The result was usually something to shake my faith. Now I just ask for the strength to get through whatever He presents me. When it gets really dicey, I just look up with a knowing expression, and say, "I know what You're doing."

I guess if we had it our way, we'd grow up like spoiled children. It's the pain we share which teaches compassion toward our fellows. The recent earthquake in Turkey brought aid from Greece — Turkey's traditional enemy. A political observer noted how this might cause some to look beyond what they have grown up believing. Even the Kurds have reached out to help those who have been oppressing them. Maybe that's why life is programmed this way: to teach us how to bear that cross. The older we get, the more pain we experience. The older we get, the more compassionate we become. There may be a correlation there.