GOD ALLOWS, BUT HE PROTECTS!

I begin this reflection by stating something we all already know: God loves us, and not only that, He desires the best for us, shelters us under His wings, protects us, guides our steps, and cares for us. How many times have we heard this truth in sermons, moments of prayer, homilies, or even read something similar in a Christian book or text? I am sure it has been countless times! But if this is true, then why do we go through difficult situations? Loss, unemployment, illness, financial hardship, abandonment? Why do poverty, violence, pain, and death exist? In short, why do we suffer?

Certainly, there is no exact answer to all these questions. Often, we witness good, holy people having their lives cut short due to illness or tragedy. Why does God, who is so good, allow such things to happen? After all, He is the Almighty God, the One who reigns, who loves, and protects His children.

If there is no intimacy with God, such situations may lead our faith to question. But if we cultivate this relationship with Him daily, these events become opportunities for a profound experience of His love, as we understand that God always wants to teach us something through everything we experience in our journey.

The Story of Job

The story of Job in the Old Testament reveals that he was "blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil" (Job 1:1). He was wealthy, had many possessions, and many children—in short, he was prosperous. Job was tested, lost everything he had, including his children, fell ill, but remained steadfast in his faith. Job experienced God's love in all these situations and was aware that nothing belonged to him; everything had been given to him by God. Faced with such a great trial, he recognized his own nothingness and God's everything in his life: "The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!" (Job 1:21). After all his trials, God restored him, giving him twice as much as he had before, including children, and "Job lived one hundred and forty-four more years and saw his children and their children to the fourth generation" (Job 42:16).

Job's story teaches us that God allows, but He protects. The Lord allows situations in our lives, but He protects us, He loves us, and we need, like Job, to keep our faith firm, certain that everything comes from the One who governs all things—the Almighty, the Pantokrator, the King, our God, who loves us jealously. That is why He allows suffering to reach us so that, through pain, we can learn what He wants to teach us: we belong to Him!

He Wounds to Heal!

God's love for us is so great, so intense, so jealous that, because of this love, this zeal, this care, He takes away what we had so that we turn back to Him, "for He wounds, but He also binds up" (Job 5:18). How often do possessions, people, social status, jobs, or even leadership in an ecclesial service distance us from God? In the face of such love, the Lord removes all of this from us—not because He wants to see us suffer, but to protect us from ourselves so that none of His children are lost. He takes away the job that leads me to self-sufficiency and vanity so that I may turn to Him, realizing that this job is a gift from God. Thus, God's word fulfills its purpose: He wounds me, makes me go through the pain of suffering to heal me, to rescue me, to bring me into His presence, into His sovereignty in my life. He removes the possessions I have so that I realize that my relationship with created things should lead me to glorify God, so that I may be educated in my relationship with material goods, using them to encounter God rather than merely satisfying my desire to possess, which distances me from the Creator. In all these situations, the Lord protects me so that I do not lose my way.

How many times have we experienced Job's story in our own lives! God takes away everything we have—our merits, our riches, our attachments, our vanities—so that we may turn to Him with an undivided heart. The Lord wounds and then heals our hearts so that they may be free and anchored only in Him. Then He restores what we lost and gives us even more because He is always good.

Contemplating God's Action in Daily Life

We must learn to contemplate the Lord in all situations, extracting from everything we experience the goodness of God. Only with this perspective can we endure suffering as an experience of God's love and care for us:

“See the Lord behind every event, every circumstance, and thus you will learn to draw more love from God and more desires to correspond, for He always awaits us and offers us the opportunity to continuously fulfill this purpose.” (Saint Josemaria Escrivá)

When we live the small things of daily life as opportunities to encounter God, everything is revealed as an expression of His care for us. We begin to perceive the pedagogy of the Creator, who manifests Himself in each situation, in each event, no matter how simple or painful. He molds us, reveals Himself, and pours out His love—a love that protects, corrects, and helps us take steps on the path to maturity and holiness.

If we begin to see trials in this way—which is only possible when there is intimacy with the Lord—our hearts will be filled with gratitude to God. We will have the full certainty that the struggles we face and the sufferings we endure are manifestations of God's goodness, who desires to shape us and draw us closer to Him, the sovereign of our lives.