Will I get through this dark and painful night? Job 23-24

Job 23:10 (NASBStr)

“But He knows the way I take;

When He has tried me, I shall come forth as gold.

To say that Job is struggling in this passage is an understatement.  He, of course, is struggling in all the words that he says.  He is going through a number of stages of grief, having lost his children.  He is going through the stress of financial burden.    He is going through physical pain that would subdue most of us.   He is going through psychological torment, brought on mostly by his friends.   But, more importantly, Job is going through a theological crisis unparalleled in his life ... perhaps anyones.   Job can't find God!!  That is the gist of the first 8-9 verses of this passage.    So, what do you do when you find yourself in a emotional-financial-physical-psychological-theological rock and hard place?    You do what Job ultimately does: You focus on what you know to be true.   In the above verse Job recalls that God "knows" his path and He "knows" at the end it will be golden.   In one of my own crisis moments of life (psychological-emotional-theological) a wise pastor told me, "David, don't doubt in the dark what you believed on in the light."   That is what Job is doing.  In the midst of the storm remember the course you were on.   Remember that God is still in control and is still going to make it alright for the one who puts their trust in God.  That is the major theme of the Bible: Those who put their trust in God will come forth, in the end, golden.   Though we are tried, like a precious stone, the dross will be burnt off and the gold will shine forth.   Don't doubt it just because you can't see it.  Don't question it just because He seems distant.   Don't forget it just because your groaning doesn't seem heard by Him (Job 23:1).   In the end it will be golden.