July 12, 2026
Where is God in My Suffering?
- Matt Nickoson
Sermon Notes
Revelation 12:9 NIV
The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.
Job 1:8 NIV
Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil.”
Job 1:9-10 NIV
“Does Job fear God for nothing?” Satan replied. Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.
Job 1:11 NIV
“But now stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 1:19 NIV
“when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!”
Job 1:22 NIV
In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.
Job 2:4-5 NIV
“Skin for skin!” Satan replied. “A man will give all he has for his own life. But now stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face.”
Job 2:10 NIV
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
Job 7:19-21 NIV
“Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Job 9:21-22 NIV
“Although I am blameless, I have no concern for myself; I despise my own life. It is all the same; that is why I say, ‘He destroys both the blameless and the wicked.’”
Job 10:1-3 NIV
“I loathe my very life; therefore I will give free rein to my complaint and speak out in the bitterness of my soul. I say to God: Do not declare me guilty, but tell me what charges you have against me. Does it please you to oppress me, to spurn the work of your hands, while you smile on the plans of the wicked?”
How can God be all-powerful (omnipotent), all-knowing (omniscient) and all-loving (omnibenevolent), and evil still exist?
Job 38:1 NIV
Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm.
God is going to defend his honor, but He does it from the most loving place imaginable, the storm. The very presence of which harkens back to how his greatest loss occurred “suddenly a mighty wind swept” and his children were killed. (Job 1:19)
There are two great answers from God related to “why suffering” exists.
Answer 1 — God governs the chaos.
This world is beautiful and complex, and it is also a battlefield. Chaos appears to reign, but appearances lie. Behind every raging force — every Leviathan we cannot tame — God is at work, bending even the chaos to His purpose, using everything in creation to accomplish exactly what He intends.
Job 38:2-3 NIV
“Who is this that obscures my plans with words without knowledge? Brace yourself like a man; I will question you, and you shall answer me.”
Job 38:4-5 NIV
“Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it?”
Job 38:6-7 NIV
“On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone— while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?”
Job 38:17-18 NIV
“Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.”
Job 38:19-20 NIV
“What is the way to the abode of light? And where does darkness reside? Can you take them to their places? Do you know the paths to their dwellings?”
Job 38:21 NIV
“Surely you know, for you were already born! You have lived so many years!”
Job 38:39-40 NIV
“Do you hunt the prey for the lioness and satisfy the hunger of the lions when they crouch in their dens or lie in wait in a thicket?”
Job 38:41 NIV
“Who provides food for the raven when its young cry out to God and wander about for lack of food?”
God’s defense of his honor is jarring but intends to remind us: If you keep pondering the vastness of my creation, you will quickly conclude you are much too small to understand what it takes to sovereignly rule over this thing. Trust me Job, I know what I am doing.
Job 40:1-2 NIV
The Lord said to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!”
Job 40:3-5 NIV
Then Job answered the Lord: “I am unworthy—how can I reply to you? I put my hand over my mouth. I spoke once, but I have no answer— twice, but I will say no more.”
In Job 40-41, God’s answer to Job climaxes not with an explanation but with two creatures: Behemoth, master of the land, and Leviathan, king of the sea. Both are overwhelming, untamable, and utterly beyond human power to subdue — yet both are God’s own handiwork, creatures He made and alone can master. Together they form a deliberate pair, the embodiment of the chaos that terrifies us, paraded before Job to make one point: the forces you cannot control, God governs with ease. The dragon is real, but the dragon is on God’s leash.
Job 41:1-2 NIV
“Can you pull in Leviathan with a fishhook or tie down its tongue with a rope? Can you put a cord through its nose or pierce its jaw with a hook?
Job 41:3-4 NIV
“Will it keep begging you for mercy? Will it speak to you with gentle words? Will it make an agreement with you for you to take it as your slave for life?”
The implication here is “no, Job. You cannot do that, but I can!”
Job 41:8-10 NIV
“If you lay a hand on it, you will remember the struggle and never do it again! Any hope of subduing it is false; the mere sight of it is overpowering. No one is fierce enough to rouse it. Who then is able to stand against me?”
Job 41:13-15 NIV
“Who can strip off its outer coat? Who can penetrate its double coat of armor? Who dares open the doors of its mouth,ringed about with fearsome teeth? Its back has rows of shields tightly sealed together;”
Job 41:18-19 NIV
“Its snorting throws out flashes of light; its eyes are like the rays of dawn. Flames stream from its mouth; sparks of fire shoot out.”
Job 41:20-21 NIV
“Smoke pours from its nostrils as from a boiling pot over burning reeds. Its breath sets coals ablaze, and flames dart from its mouth.”
Remember this: the dragon is real, but the dragon is on a leash, and God holds the leash. We defeat the dragon by not quitting on our faith even when chaos appears to be ruling the day.
Revelation 12:11 NIV
“They triumphed over him (Satan the great Dragon) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.”
Revelation 12:12 NIV
“Therefore rejoice, you heavens and you who dwell in them! But woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short.”