The hope that is an anchor in the storm is not wishful thinking for a better place or a better day. It is the hope of the gospel, the same hope extended by Paul to the Thessalonians when he urged them not to grieve as the rest of men who had no hope. Paul explains that hope in terms of the purpose of God bound up in the suffering and deliverance of His Son.

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God (Job 19:25-26).

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.” (Job 1:20–21)

Job begins not in rebellion but in recognition of God and submission to Him. When his wife urges him to forsake God, Job defers to God: “But he said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?’” (Job 2:10). In other words, Job ascribes to God the right to do as He wills, what he describes as a mark of wisdom and not foolishness.

Job’s acceptance of his position is not cavalier or without cost, expressed as some sort of religious platitude as we might hear as comfort from the mouths of those who attempt to console us in our grief.

Read More