Job 3:11 Why died I not from the womb? Why did I not give up the ghost when I came out of the belly?
We humans are never so curious as when calamity strikes. Job was not curious as to why he was wealthy, healthy, and had a large family, but the moment calamity struck he had a question that any of us would have had. That question was, “Why?” The only time any of us question why the day is so nice is when we worry that it is going to change. The truth is that we are never so curious as when calamity actually strikes.
In Job 3:11 Job asks, “Why died I not from the womb?” That is a question he repeats at least twice more in the chapter. He says in verse 20, “Wherefore is light given to him that is in misery.” Why live if we can’t be happy or have comfort? It is important to know that your life is of value because of the Creator, not because of the quality. When we talk about the quality of life, we are usually talking about health, wealth, comfort, and happiness. If those things determine how valuable we are, then we are in trouble because that can change every day and it can change on a dime.
No, your life is valuable because God made you by design and on purpose. You may not know why, but God does. The point is that you can trust God with the why. You can. If I knew why everything happened, good and bad, then I would be God. But I am not God. God is God, and that is where I have to trust a God Who knows everything.
Job did not know the big picture. In the very first verses of Job we have a picture of God, Satan, and Job. Then, Job’s friends are defending the honor of God, which is good on the face of it, and Job was defending his innocence, which as it turns out, was not absolute. Satan is scarcely mentioned. Job didn’t know the big picture. Job didn’t know what was behind his calamity or what was going on. We don’t either. That is why we need to trust God with the why.
Job did not know of God’s esteem for him. In Job 2:3 it says, “Hast thou considered my servant Job…a perfect and an upright man.” Now how crazy is that! At the very moment when calamity was striking Job, God was saying to Satan, “Job is a man who fears Me and is a good man.” Job didn’t know of God’s esteem for him. Can you imagine if we could peel back the layers of heaven and see how the Creator God loves His creation?
The bottom line is that God knows us; we trust Him. We know God, and God knows everything. That relieves me of having the burden of having to understand the why in every event that happens in my life. Your life is valuable because God made it. You can trust God with the why because we know Him and He knows everything else.