Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
Gird up your loins like a man, I will question you, and you shall declare to me.
“Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
Tell me, if you have understanding.” [Job 38.1-4]

“Smite me, O mighty smiter!” yells the lead character in the movie, Bruce Almighty, daring God to act, as one misstep after another leads to chaos in his life.

We have similarly laughed at Basil Fawlty raising his clenched fist, heavenwards, as his life enters another spiral, with accusation laid at the feet of the Almighty. Even in the more complex and engaged debate from President Jed Bartlet in West Wing, we hear the most powerful man in the world accuse God of wilful behaviour and arbitrary punishment.

This cartoon from The Far Side echoes the anger, or fear, of Bruce and Basil and Bartlet, as they come to terms with catastrophes of various dimensions. The reason these images work so well is that, deep down, many of us fear that God has that capacity, that character flaw, waiting to push the “smite” button, simply because God can.

When we read the extraordinary tale of Job and his family, we are at risk of equating a story of suffering and injustice, of faithfulness and despair with the imaginary, vindictive deity against whom Basil Fawlty raises his fist.

We are called to advocate for those who suffer; we are commanded to offer our compassion. We are also called to engage with faithful questioning, to wrestle out our discipleship, to engage and contend with God. Our faith, through Christ, compels us to address suffering, to confront injustice and to stand, with open hearts and hands, beseeching our faithful God, and asking why.

Job enquires of God why such punishment has been visited upon him and his family. God’s response to Job describes far more than arbitrary action. It is the reply that says there is more happening than we can know, and that God is, essentially, more than we can imagine, or prescribe.

Our faith, through Christ, compels us to address suffering, to confront injustice and to stand, with open hearts and hands, beseeching our faithful God, and asking why.

God’s answer, for those who know the depths of injustice and suffering, always seems insufficient. It is, however, the wrestle of every human being to understand why wrong things happen across the world and history. As people sit in dust and ashes in Gaza and Lebanon; as the folk in Ukraine watch their history and future destroyed; as politicians play the lottery with economic policy and people’s lives, the appeal of Job to God makes absolute sense to all of us.

Jesus’ life and death and resurrection at the heart of history speaks into the question of suffering and injustice. The proclamation that God is not above and beyond our lives, but with us, articulates something more profound and wonderful than Job hears from his fickle friends, or even from God’s response.

Yes, God is indeed more than we can ask or imagine. God, however, is with us. That assertion calls for our voice and our action as disciples of this God. Our faith, through Christ, compels us to address suffering, to confront injustice and to stand, with open hearts and hands, beseeching our faithful God, and asking why.