Why Am I Here

Job 3:2–3 (ESV) And Job said: 3 “Let the day perish on which I was born, and the night that said, ‘A man is conceived.’

This is the first thing Job says after a 7-day silence sitting in ashes with his friends. Notice what he did not do. He did not curse God. He placed no blame on the Almighty although the Almighty let this happen to Him. Job's first inclination is to deride his own birth, or rather, the day of his birth. 

Job moves on from cursing that day to wondering why he was even born or made it to adulthood.

Job 3:11–12 (ESV) “Why did I not die at birth, come out from the womb and expire? 12 Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse?

At this moment Job enters into a question that we all must answer one day - why are we born? What is our purpose for living if there is so much suffering? For sure, none of us suffer as Job did. But if you squeezed all of our hurts into a three-week time period, it would probably get us to ask why we are even alive. 

Some look at the suffering of others, the starvation of entire populations to wonder what the purpose of it all actually is. Some take suffering to mean there is no God. In other words, God would only be useful in a suffering-free life. 

Job continues:

Job 3:20–22 (ESV) “Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter in soul, 21 who long for death, but it comes not, and dig for it more than for hidden treasures, 22 who rejoice exceedingly and are glad when they find the grave?

In this passage, Job considers that death is preferable to a life of misery. And perhaps he is right. He has lost everything - including his health. On the surface, none of us see purpose in that. But perhaps this is why Job is in the Bible - to get us looking beyond our human answers to suffering and dig deeper.

Job 3:25–26 (ESV) For the thing that I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me. 26 I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, but trouble comes.”

If we do not suffer now, let us be honest. We may fear suffering later. I wonder what has you fearful that it could occur? A loss, a firing, a divorce, a rejection or something else? 

The eastern religions suggest that eliminating desire is the answer (see Hinduism). But is that the case? If you live with no desire, what is life but a series of emotionless experiences? 

The first act of Job's speech implores us to join him on a journey for why we are here. And for the reader, we have the luxury of two things. ONE: behind the scenes access to the heavenly court where God and Satan spoke. TWO: the hindsight of Job's restoration at the end of the narrative. But for now, we should deal with where he is in Job 3. And the answer to the "why" of life in the face of suffering is simply this: God is destroying the devil's accusation that life is only about the "goodies". Life is about far more than what we have or acquire. Our life is made for God. We are here as a testimony to His goodness and glory. And He can use us as He sees fit to accomplish that. 

Trusting Him requires that we surrender to His purpose which always prevails over our plans.