5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - Strength through Suffering

Of all people, Job is brokenhearted.  If you haven’t read the whole Book of Job in the Bible, make it a goal this week to read it.  The Book of Job explores the question of why God would allow us to experience trials, temptations, ill-fortune, sickness, and suffering.  Maybe you feel like him: “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?  I have been assigned months of misery, and troubled nights have been allotted to me.  My days come to an end without hope; I shall not see happiness again.” 

In the book of Job, we learn that it’s the devil who is jealous of Job.  He’s jealous of Job’s wealth, but most of all, he’s jealous of Job’s virtue, because Job is faithful to the Lord.  And so the devil asks God to allow him to test Job, to inflict suffering upon him, and maybe, just maybe, Job will curse God and forsake the Lord.  God permits the devil to cause Job disaster, and and in one fell swoop, Job loses his home, his children, his sheep and cattle, and his health.

There are three things to note:

1) The devil always envies those who strive to please the Lord.  That’s precisely the motivation for the devil’s hatred toward Job.  Which means that when temptations and trials occur in our life, it’s not a sign that we’re doing something wrong, but rather something right.  The temptations of the devil assail those who are on the path of holiness, because the devil wants above all to overcome the holy!  He wouldn't attack you if he didn't see that you were striving to make progress toward God!

2) God allows this to happen.  Why?  It’s to heal our pride.  God allows us to fall into temptation and to fail, so that we realize we don't have it all together, we can't do it on our own, we don't have the strength by ourselves.  We won’t be puffed up by our own greatness if temptations can humble us.  Sometimes it feels like Jesus has left us, that he’s up in the hills praying while we’re down here suffering.  He does that so we can experience what it's like not to be upheld by His power and strength, so we can see our weakness and feel how much we need him.  

In the Gospel, we hear about a whole army of Jobs who come to Jesus … all who were ill, possessed by demons.  That’s every one of us, coming to the door of Jesus’ house with repentance and faith, asking him to approach us in our need, grasp us by the hand, and help us up.  And once we've been helped by Jesus, we have to work to save the people around us, too.  To be the ones who bring others to Jesus, to invite them to Mass, invite them to become Catholic, tell people how Jesus has strengthened you, beg Jesus on behalf of so many who still need to find him!

3) God is confident that Job will pass the test … and he’s confident in us, too, in you.  Around this time of year, the NFL holds what’s known as the “combine,” where scouts and GM’s get a look at the potential draft-day prospects.  The players are put through drills and tests to see what they’re made of.  The scouts and GM’s aren’t looking for a finished product who thinks they’re God’s gift to the NFL.  They’re looking for someone who’s teachable, who’s trainable, and who’s humbly willing to grow and change.

I think that’s a fitting image for how God looks at us.  He sees our potential, but he also sees where we need to grow and change and our weak points that need strengthening and conditioning.  Like any muscle, our weak will needs training to get strong.  And just like our bodily muscles, the only way for our will to get strong is when there's an opposition pushing against it.  

Just like a football recruit needs coaching and drills to correct bad habits, so we too need drills to train our will in holiness ~ and those drills are the temptations and trials that God allows to come upon us.  How are you going to correct the evil desires in you and strengthen your will if you’re never put through your paces?

So, if you're being tempted or are in the midst of a trial, rejoice! because God's treating you as His spiritual son or daughter, an athlete-in-training, to strengthen you to run the race set before you and become strong in your will for holiness!  God’s allowing the devil to test you, because the devil’s thinking maybe, just maybe you've not really rejected him … the test of temptation and trials is the battle field where we can convince the devil of our total renunciation of him … and in the process, we learn of our growth in virtue and come out stronger and steadier than iron, thanks to temptations … and God’s confident that you can pass the test and come through!  After all, He’s the one who’s drafted us onto His team, enlisted us in his army!