Why do good people suffer?

In Job 2 and 3, Job loses even his health, and he sinks so low that he curses the day he was born. In this study, Dr. Toby Holt faces an honest question: why do good and godly people suffer?

Satan strikes Job with painful sores from head to toe, and Job’s wife urges him to “curse God and die.” Yet Job answers, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” Three friends come, weep, and sit silently with him for seven days. Then Job breaks the silence by pouring out his grief. Dr. Holt explains that Job never saw the heavenly backstory — he suffered not because he was bad, but because he was so good. Being faithful does not make us immune to pain.

Questions this study answers:

1. Does being a good Christian protect us from suffering? No. Job was the most upright man of his day, yet he suffered deeply. Faithfulness is no guarantee of an easy life.

2. How did Job respond to his wife’s advice? He refused to curse God, answering that we should accept both good and hardship from His hand. His faith held even in agony.

3. What did Job’s friends do right at first? They came to him, wept with him, and sat in silence for seven days. Their quiet presence was a comfort — before their words made things worse.

“Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” — Job 2:10 (NKJV)

Speaker: Dr. Toby Holt is the President of New Geneva Theological Seminary, a Reformed seminary in Colorado Springs. He is known for clear, down-to-earth Bible teaching, and his sermons have been downloaded more than 1.9 million times on SermonAudio.

Listen and go deeper: This sermon is part of the Job Explained study from New Geneva Theological Seminary. Find more verse-by-verse teaching across the Bible at newgeneva.org. To support this teaching ministry, visit newgeneva.org/give.