About the Straight to the Heart Series 9
Introduction: Why Does God Allow Suffering? 11
PROLOGUE: JOB'S SUFFERING
The Perfect Man (Job 1:1-5) 16
Real (Job 1:6-12) 21
No Excuses (Job 1:12) 25
The Naked Worshipper (Job 1:13-22) 29
Close to Home (Job 2:1-10) 34
Job's Three Friends (Job 2:11-13) 38
ACT ONE: THE SAME OLD ANSWERS
In the Dark (Job 3:1-26) 44
The Best Answers in the World (Job 4:1-11) 48
The Limits of Experience (Job 4:12-5:27) 52
The Glory of Kings (Job 4:12-5:27) 56
When the Sparks Start to Fly (Job 6:1-30) 60
Get Real (Job 7:1-21) 64
Tradition (Job 8:1-22) 68
Lift Your Eyes (Job 9:1-35) 72
Courtroom Drama (Job 9:32-35) 76
Prayer in a Minor Key (Job 10:1-22) 80
Unreasonable (Job 11:1-20) 85
Better Friend (Job 12:1-13:19) 89
Glimpses of Glory (Job 13:20-14:22) 93
Here We Go Again (Job 15:1-35) 97
What Suffering Achieves (Job 16:1-17:16) 101
Slot-Machine God (Job 18:1-21) 106
Price Tag (Job 19:1-29) 110
Afterlife (Job 19:25-27) 115
Beyond Reason (Job 20:1-29) 119
True Love (Job 21:1-34) 123
How Not to Pastor People (Job 22:1-30) 127
No Way (Job 23:1-17) 131
The School of Suffering (Job 23:10) 135
You're Fired! (Job 24:1-25) 139
Half-Truth (Job 25:1-6) 143
Don't Miss the Obvious (Job 26:1-4) 147
Natural Conclusions (Job 26:5-14) 151
Enough! (Job 27:1-23) 156
ACT TWO: SOME NEW ANSWERS
Interval (Job 28:1-28) 162
The Righteous One (Job 29:1-25) 167
Looking for Trouble (Job 29:16) 171
The Suffering Servant (Job 30:1-31) 175
The Curse-Bearer (Job 31:1-40) 179
Eyes Right (Job 31:1-12) 184
Am I Not a Man and a Brother? (Job 31:15) 188
God Knows What He is Doing... (Job 32:1-33:33) 192
... and What You are Doing (Job 34:1-37) 197
God Doesn't Need You... (Job 35:1-16) 201
... but You Need God (Job 36:1-37:24) 205
ACT THREE: GOD'S OWN ANSWERS
Words, Words, Words (Job 38:1-3) 210
The Joy of Being God (Job 38:4-7) 214
Order, Order! (Job 38:8-15) 218
H2O (Job 38:16-30) 223
Stargazing (Job 38:31-33) 227
Where the Wild Things are (Job 38:34-39:30) 231
The Thief of Joy (Job 39:13-18) 235
Mid-Course Correction (Job 40:1-5) 239
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Job 40:6-41:34) 243
EPILOGUE: JOB'S COMFORT
What Job Discovered About God (Job 42:1-6) 248
What Job Discovered About Prayer (Job 42:7-9) 252
What Job Discovered About the Devil (Job 42:10-11) 256
What Job Discovered About Prosperity (Job 42:10-17) 260
Conclusion: Why Does God Allow Suffering? 265
Acknowledgments 267
