Though he slay me, God is still good.
A friend brought up the question, “Why does God slay us?” My friend asked because of the book of Job (pronounced with a long o sound: “Jobe”) in the Bible where the suffering, but righteous fellow said, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust him.”
In answering my friend, I couldn’t help but think about my stroke 6 1/2 years ago. In a very real sense, I lost parts of me. Parts of me were ‘slain’. And in contemplating that loss, I wrote:
He slays us because he loves us.
He slays us so we can see him.
He slays us to purify us.
He slays us to make us humble.
He slays us to make us use-able in his kingdom.
He slays us cuz he knows what’s best.
We don’t understand always.
Sometimes it’s years before we understand.
But we trust his heart for us by faith.
Because he is good.
There was a time when I wouldn’t have said God was the one who did the slaying. I would have said evil did the slaying or the devil did the slaying. Either way, God gave permission. He could have stopped it, but he gave permission for all the trials and suffering that Job went through. For all the reasons stated above, and more.
And God is still the same today.
In the hospital right after my stroke, I couldn’t walk anymore, I couldn’t go to the bathroom by myself, I couldn’t write anymore, I couldn’t talk, I couldn’t think in a straight line. Much of “me” was just gone. There was a point where I knew the Lord was asking me if I would trust him, or, “if I would go away too?” John 8.67. It was SO gently whispered to my heart and SO painful to have to answer all at the same time. I remember thinking, “Where else can I go? There’s nowhere else to go.”
We all have trials and horrible things that happen to us. Accidents, death, loss, struggles, affliction, heartbreak, hardships; crosses we’re asked to bear. By the God who loves us. Places where we’re slain, both physically and otherwise.
When these come, will we yet trust God? Even if he slays us? Will we trust that he is still good—whatever hard thing he gives permission to come to us?
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