By Anderson Isiagu

Do you sometimes tilt your head upwards, eyes gazing into the sky, and mutter the words, “Funny, Lord” or “Not funny, Lord”? As Christians, we often get engulfed in life’s vicissitudes, ranging from mild changes to excruciating, life-altering jolts that make us question everything. We might even wonder if God really exists and cares about us. One moment, we are coasting along with our idea of a perfectly unfolding life, and the next, everything is ripped away—our happiness, health, and motivation. We cry out, “Why, Lord? Why me?”

Often, we cannot make sense of how God could allow His beloved to be plunged into such depths of sorrow and unpleasant realities. The Bible is replete with myriad examples of such stories that leave us astounded by their severity and unexpected outcomes.

One such story is that of Job, whose entire ordeal was initiated by God. We find this exchange in the first chapter of Job, verses 6-12, where God boasts to Satan about Job’s loyalty and righteousness, calling him “the finest man in all the earth… blameless—a man of complete integrity, who fears God and stays away from evil.” “Of course, he does all that only because You have protected him and his family. Take all that away, and he will curse you to your face,” Satan retorts.

What follows is a series of events that turn Job’s life upside down. The humor, if you can call it that, lies in how extreme hardships befell Job, despite his innocence and without his knowledge, all at God’s behest. Interestingly, God left a caveat in place—He did not permit Satan to take Job’s life. This story challenges us to consider how we perceive and respond to our own trials.

Personally, I have seen my fair share of trials. In fact, my whole life is a quintessential depiction of trials that have graduated from one phase to the next. It would be impossible to chronicle each of them in ten article volumes. For instance, while most kids my age had a full and vibrant childhood, mine was marred—or blessed, dare I say—by frequent bouts of malaria and typhoid fever. While other kids were out in open, green fields playing and making memories, I was itching from head to toe from the devastating effects of Chloroquine. I was a weak kid who could not lift heavy objects or do chores and was bullied and bruised by older kids. My family eventually lost all our riches and on top of this, I flunked in school and understood mostly nothing of what I was being taught. Naturally, these experiences affected my self-esteem, pushing me further towards my insecurities and making an already shy kid want to withdraw further into my shell. The struggle through college was brutal, and the years after were equally challenging. The most recent trial was particularly devastating. It disrupted my life, with far-reaching effects on my family, career progress, and graduate educational pursuit. Though the uncertainty and stress have been overwhelming, through it all, God’s grace and my wife’s support have been of immense help to me.

My mother and late sister, Rose, were very important figures in my spiritual life. Mother ensured that we were brought up in a Christian home, and my sister was a beacon of light, and the force of nature responsible for significant aspects of my spiritual growth. When I ponder over our lives and the many setbacks and difficulties we have endured, I wonder if God’s sense of humor is literal or as mysterious as everything else about the Almighty. 

How else could I make sense of watching my mother go through so much stress? She worked late into nights, put in many hours knitting baby sweaters, bought and sold firewood, and made palm oil from the scratch. Yet, she nursed a persistent case of arthritis and pains in parts of her body through it all. Hmmm, not funny, Lord. 

Rose, on the other hand, got diagnosed with Acinic Cell Carcinoma, which took a serious turn around 2016. It started as a tiny speck of pimple under her left ear that developed into a huge tumor. She suffered progressively until her death in October 2022, just a day before her birthday. One of the most devastating moments of my life. Worsened by the fact that I could not travel back to Nigeria to see her or be part of her burial. When I consider Rosy’s case, God’s sense of humor confounds me completely. No matter how I analyze it, nothing about what my sister went through makes sense. 

For a long time, I held on to faith and a strong belief that God was setting her up for a miraculous healing and testimony. That never happened. This one was not funny at all, dear Lord. 

I learned a lot from watching my mother and Rosy go through their trials. Mom never lost her joy. She was always a great mom to her kids and an amazing wife to her husband. She never faltered from the prayer warrior that she was, nor did she relent in encouraging us to root our lives in godliness. Mom always said that we do not have recourse in other gods. We do not depend on or go to witch/native doctors; God alone is the doctor we know and our only go-to. Instead of growing weary and tired, my mother has grown stronger and more determined in her prayer life. She would never pass off on any opportunity to pray for her kids. Despite all her trials—her husband’s death in 2011, the pains, the struggles, though they brought her pain and she sometimes questioned God—she completely resigns, finds her fulfilment in, and depends solely on God in everything she does. 

Rosy was like my mom too. She prayed fervently and did everything you would expect of a true worshipper of the Father. She continued through every stage of her fight until the very end. In the course of her fight, Rosy had emaciated so badly like an acutely malnourished person as the cancer chipped away at her amiable essence bit by bit. We, her family and friends, were devastated by the transformation she went through before our eyes. My mom, sisters, and some of Rosy’s close friends seldom could not hold back their tears from merely looking at what was left of the beautiful soul we all loved. 

However, the most remarkable thing about her was that amid her excruciating pain, Rosy was the one offering us comfort. She encouraged us to trust in the Lord and that she was certain that God had a plan for her life. Rosy’s ability to trust God was extraordinary. She found meaning and purpose beyond herself in her suffering. Talk about God’s humor. The comfort was not for the formidable sick Christian but for her distraught loved ones. 

We are infinite beings in a finite world, and sometimes, nothing make sense. After many centuries, we are still struggling to figure out humanity and the human experience. Science has made significant efforts to explain natural phenomena, but despite all its advancements, it has not been able to explain the metaphysical and why we experience some things. Religion has tried too, yet these vacuums still exist. How else can we explain the emptiness and longing we feel despite the many religions and churches that exist in the world today? We have also continued to debate the concept of suffering repeatedly rather than accept it as a part of life. 

There are parallels between Job’s story and those of my mother and sister. The underlying themes that unify all of them is suffering and trust. They remind us to trust in God, whether we understand the purpose of our trials or not. This is the significance of “Faith.” We may not always have the complete picture in the middle of trials, but we can still choose to trust God through them. Most major religions in the world today promote the concept of rest and peace beyond this world. These religions also believe in an “afterlife” that symbolizes a preternatural, serene, and blissful reality that is devoid of suffering and the chaos of this world. A reality where all imperfections would be made perfect, and all suffering will be no more. 

We will not always find meaning in our suffering, nor will there always be a purpose. That is okay too. What makes sense to me the most, based on all my own trials, my sister’s, and Job’s, is how we react and approach such trials. We could curse God, as Job’s wife suggested, or we could embrace our pains and go through our trials with a positive attitude. 

My sister’s positive approach to cancer was hinged on her faith. She believed that God had an ultimate plan and despite not knowing the end, she resigned to His will. Whether our trials end in transitioning to the afterlife, as in my sister’s case, or in replenishment and restoration as in the case of Job, or even in perpetual suffering as with many in the world today, resting our faith and trusting in God allows us to lean into the discomfort and find the strength to live joyfully and purposefully through trials and difficult times. 

I hope that when all this is over and I meet with God in the afterlife, we would have a good laugh and I will tell him “Not funny, Lord, but it was worth it.”