How often do we do that as human beings? We shoot our mouths off about things we actually have no clue about, and only demonstrate our own ignorance as we question the wisdom or the justice of God.
Perhaps the most well known verse from the book of Job is the words that he speaks in chapter 42 vs 5: I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
If we're ranting and raving against God, like Job did at some points on his journey, we're probably demonstrating that, no matter how long we've been a Christian, ours is more a "hearsay" knowledge of God (at least in the area under question) than a "seen you with my own eyes" kind of knowledge. It doesn't mean that we're not saved, and it doesn't mean that God isn't able to handle our honestly asking Him the hard questions that we struggle with. But it does mean that the time is ripe for Him to take us to deeper levels of revelation and experience of who He is.
The only reasonable response in this situation is for Job to repent and say, vs 6, "I take back everything that I said."
And God is pleased with this attitude. He doesn't hold Job's previous struggles and questions against him. On the contrary, He blessed him even more than He had done in the past. We read that Job lived to a ripe old age and only died after living "a long, full life."
There was, however, one other thing required of Job before he experienced that overwhelming level of restoration and blessing: he needed to forgive the three friends who had spoken so harshly and accusingly to him. God rebuked those men for how they had behaved and for not speaking accurately about Him. He asked Job to pray for them, so that they would be treated with mercy. It seems that Job let go of any desire to see his friends punished for the way they had treated him, and prayed instead for their restoration. This important step, vs 7 - 9, preceded Job's own restoration and blessing.
Ironically, when a bunch of family and former friends come back to celebrate with Job, it says they consoled and comforted him "because of all the trials God had brought against him." It seems that some people continued in their wrong belief that God was the source of Job's trials and suffering.
And perhaps the strangest thing about the story of Job is that is seems God never did set the record straight on that aspect. He didn't say, "Look, everyone, it wasn't me who did all that stuff; it was Satan." He allowed people to continue in their own journey of seeking Him and finding out the truth about Him, and it seems that it is only we, in future generations, who are allowed the privilege of a peek behind the scenes, to Job chapters 1 and 2, to discover what was really going on in that long ago situation.
But that insight should be sufficient to settle any doubts we may have had about the goodness of God. Job's journey shows us that we live in a world where bad things happen, but a good and just God is never the source of any evil we face.
