The Message: Job: Led by Suffering to the Heart of God

LIFE CAN BE TERRIBLY PRECARIOUS.

Just when everything seems to be going well, we find ourselves sick in the hospital, mourning the loss of a loved one, or dismissed and bewildered by circumstances beyond our comprehension.

Invariably, people show up to tell us exactly where we went wrong and what we must do to get better. Job was no exception. In the midst of his pain, his friends arrived with their advice. Although some of what they said was true, the answers they gave were impersonal and lacking in intimacy-falling far short of the wisdom Job desperately needed. Job rejected their easy answers and longed instead for an answer straight from God.

Written in frank, everyday language, Eugene H. Peterson's rendition of Job invites us to ask the difficult questions that arise when life seems to be spinning out of control. And with Job, we realize that simple solutions or complex formulas to the mysteries of life aren't really what we need. What we really need is the relief and comfort that comes from God himself, speaking to us out of the whirlwind.

EUGENE H. PETERSON is a writer and poet. He has authored more than twenty books and is a contributing editor to Leadership Journal. He is Professor Emeritus of Spiritual Theology at Regent College in Vancouver, British Columbia. Eugene was also the founding pastor of Christ Our King Presbyterian Church in Bel Air, Maryland, where he ministered for twenty-nine years.