In the midst of undeserved calamaties, Job complains that he cannot find God (Job 23). Job is sure of his own righteousness and wants to lay his case before God, but his petition is denied. Even those who obey God through times of testing do not control life events. This struggle to understand, which comes up against the mysterious ways of divinity, leads Job to dread God.

Job has backed into a proper understanding of the almighty God. His dread is the realization that human reason and righteousness cannot explain the way the world works. God is related to us, but other than us; God pays heed to us, but is not controlled by us. Job plumbs the depths of the sovereignty of God and it is disorienting.

Eventually, when Job's vision of God is enlarged, he can accept the lack of reasonable answers to why the righteous suffer. We are more fortunate than Job, for we have the work of Christ to bridge the gulf of unknowing. God suffers with us, and that divine commitment ultimately redeems suffering, if we let it.