“Trust God and Let Him Prevail,” Liahona, Aug. 2022.
Trust God and Let Him Prevail
The ultimate lesson of the book of Job is that each of us can choose to live our lives trusting God and His plan, no matter what.
Any suffering “can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”
Christ in Gethsemane, by Heinrich Hofmann
Why do bad things happen to good people? I suspect that even Adam and Eve asked themselves this question. Job certainly did. Many scholars, philosophers, and theologians have attempted to provide answers.
The book of Job addresses the question but never answers the why. Job learns that trusting God and not relying on his own understanding is the way to approach difficulties in life. These teachings encourage us to let God prevail so that we remain optimistic and hopeful despite challenges.
Sin and Suffering
Understanding the book of Job is facilitated when we consider this couplet: “All sin causes suffering, but not all suffering is caused by sin.” Because all sinful actions do not have immediate negative consequences for the wrongdoer (see Malachi 3:13–18), we may be fooled and mistakenly believe that we can willfully sin and that the consequences can be avoided. They cannot.
While repentance is joyful for us and it brings joy to the Savior and our Heavenly Father, our sins did cause the Savior to innocently suffer. He paid the price so that we do not have to endure the requisite suffering as punishment if we repent. But make no mistake: all sin causes suffering.
Job and his friends thought that all suffering was caused by sin. That, too, is fundamentally false. Job was a good man who lost everything and suffered horribly. When his friends “consoled” him, they presumed that Job must have grievously sinned to warrant such suffering.
Job also believed that only sin caused suffering and wanted to prove to his friends and to God that his “punishment” was out of proportion to sins he had committed. Such proof, he reasoned, would result in the cessation of his sufferings.
Eventually, God spoke to Job from a whirlwind. God did not defend Himself, explain Job’s suffering, or respond to Job’s claims of innocence. Rather, God criticized the lengthy discussions of Job and his friends, saying, “Who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge?” (Job 38:2). To highlight their ignorance, God posed at least 66 questions, demanding that Job answer them. Job could not. (See Job 38–42.)
It was as if God had patiently and kindly said to Job, “If you cannot answer even one of my questions about the earth that I have created, is it possible that eternal laws exist that you do not understand? Are there assumptions you have made that are invalid? Do you understand my motives and how my plan of salvation and exaltation works? And can you foresee your future destiny?”
God in His wisdom knows that a vital part of our mortal experience is to not know everything. There is something about trusting Him that allows us to progress to become like Him.
Job initially did not understand these things. But he is not alone. God reminds us:
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8–9).
Job grasped God’s message. He humbly acknowledged that he had not understood, and he repented of attributing his suffering to sin (see Job 42:3, 6). Job recognized that all suffering is not divine punishment. Because his suffering was not caused by sin, Job’s job was to trust God. No matter what, Job needed to remember that God “loveth his children” even though Job did “not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi 11:17).
Remain Faithful
Like Job, we need to trust in our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and remain faithful in all circumstances. The more real They are in our lives, the more we trust Them. The more we do so, the more we focus on Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and exaltation. The more that eternal perspective remains in focus, the easier it is to let God prevail and the less the circumstances in our lives matter.1 As stated by President Russell M. Nelson, “With celestial sight, trials impossible to change become possible to endure.”2
With these insights in mind, King Benjamin encouraged us to “believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend” (Mosiah 4:9).
President Brigham Young (1801–77) beautifully taught that the circumstances in our lives do not determine our outlook. He said: “Thrust a man into prison and bind him with chains and then let him be filled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity, and that prison is a palace to him. Again, let a man be seated upon a throne with power and dominion in this world, ruling his millions and millions, and without that peace which flows from the Lord of Hosts, without that contentment and joy that comes from heaven, his palace is a prison, his life is a burden to him; he lives in fear, in dread, and in sorrow. But when a person is filled with the peace and power of God, all is right with him.”3
Because of his trust in God, Job learned that “when [God] hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold” (Job 23:10). Job would be refined by the experiences he had. Knowing that not all suffering is caused by sin and that God could be trusted, Lehi said:
“And now, Jacob, … in thy childhood thou hast suffered afflictions and much sorrow. …
“Nevertheless, … thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2).
“When [God] hath tried me,” Job learned, “I shall come forth as gold.”
Fear Not
Even while we suffer, God can help us in our difficulties. He has said to us: “Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness” (Isaiah 41:10). He will not desert us even in the face of overwhelming challenges. He said:
“When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.
“For I am the Lord thy God” (Isaiah 43:2–3).
As we recognize these blessings, our trust in God increases. We will realize that any suffering “can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.”4 On the other hand, the more we “dwindle in unbelief, and depart from the right way, and know not the God in whom [we] should trust” (Mormon 9:20), the more the circumstances in our lives loom large. When we stop trusting God, we become anxious and yield to frustration and despair.
Jesus Christ overcame the world. Because of Him, we can have peace in this world and “be of good cheer” (John 16:33). Job’s testimony of the Savior is inspiring thousands of years after he uttered it. He exclaimed:
“For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:
“And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God” (Job 19:25–26).
Jesus Christ loves to restore what we cannot restore, heal wounds we cannot heal, fix what is irreparably broken,5 and compensate for any unfairness we have endured. In fact, if we let Him, He will consecrate our suffering for our gain and sanctify to us our deepest distress.6 He will not just console us and restore what was lost (see Job 42:10, 12–13), but He will use our trials for our benefit.
The Savior has the power to make everything right and yearns to do so. He loves to permanently mend even shattered hearts (see Psalm 147:3). The ultimate lesson of the book of Job is that each of us can choose to live our lives trusting God and His plan, no matter what.