Kamber Shenae Doback-Lucas

Job’s friends had the best of intentions when they sat down with him in the ash pile remains of the life he had built for himself. Job mourned the loss of his vast wealth and personal health, but most of all he mourned the loss of his seven sons and three daughters. See, God permitted Satan to afflict Job and take away all that he cared about. Satan sought to turn his soul away from the God he adored. In the end, Satan’s challenge ended in failure. Job’s heart remained steadfast. But this does not mean Job did not suffer greatly – he did: He endured doubts and anguish. He had many burning questions, but no answers. He questioned his own integrity. He lost the will to live. His friends were no help at all. In fact, they blamed Job for his miseries, claiming God blesses the righteous and curses the wicked. And since Job had experienced unprecedented disaster on every side, they could only conclude he had sinned greatly and should repent for his wicked heart. However, we are told in the opening verse of the book that Job was blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil. Later in the story, another friend, younger in years, but more accomplished in wisdom joined the conversation. He rebuked Job’s three friends and explained how God sometimes uses human suffering to purify and teach us things in a way that no other means will suffice. He counseled that it is our duty to humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God in those moments.
It is natural for us to ask ourselves, Why does God use such harsh measures? Why do good people suffer such great calamity? I could offer a theological discourse on why God permits things to happen in any given tragic situation, but then I would be guilty of the same sin of presumption that Job’s three friends demonstrated. I will not do that. I’ll let God speak for Himself. Did you know God addressed Job directly in the final chapters of the book? If you were expecting God to answer all of Job’s questions, you’ll be as disappointed as I was reading those final verses. God didn’t feel obligated to justify his ways to a creature of the dust, but instead turned the tables on Job and had questions for him. Questions that a mere mortal cannot hope to answer: The Lord inquired, Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? God’s point in his stinging rebuke is this: His counsel is His own to keep, and his infinite wisdom is beyond our reach. Instead, we must humble ourselves in God’s presence as Job did when he said, I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” This simple act of humility was the proper response. Afterward, The Lord restored the fortunes of Job, so that his latter days were more blessed than the first.
So why do bad things happen to good people? On a more immediate and relevant level, we probably have all asked ourselves, why did Kamber suffer so much at the hands of cancer? From all the testimony of friends and family and my own personal experience, Kamber may have been the best of us all. So why did she suffer all these things? It doesn’t seem fair, does it? It is natural for us to ask “why?” To what purpose or end was all this suffering for? But I can hear the Lord’s rebuke even before I finish the thought. God’s word to Job is the same word He has for us: Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Of course, the question is rhetorical, with an obvious answer. Who are we, as mere mortal humans to question the wisdom of the Almighty? The Creator of the universe will not be held to account for His actions by those made in His image. The potter will mold the clay however He desires, to accomplish whatever ends he has purposed, our protests notwithstanding.
Even if our most pressing and earnest questions about the mystery of Kamber’s sufferings cannot be answered on this side of eternity here is an important truth I hope we will all carry with us: Never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light. Here is where we should think back on the earliest lessons we learned as children in Sunday School: God is good. God is kind. God is loving. God is wise. God is merciful. God gives grace to the humble. God works all things together for the good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose. God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son… We must grasp these fundamental truths about God with an iron grip when the sun is obscured by the total eclipse of unexpected tragedies. If you live long enough tragedy will find you. It is one of those inescapable truths of life in a fallen world. That is why what is taught to us in the light becomes even more meaningful in the darkness. Never for a moment doubt God’s goodness, never entertain a single thought that God isn’t loving, kind, merciful, and gracious. I remember the day my grandson was killed in a senseless act of violence. Unbidden, the most prominent thought that obtrusively ran through my mind was this: In the midst of unspeakable personal loss and sorrow, all I know is that God is as good now as He was when I woke up this morning. Frankly, it surprised me that on a chaotic day full of so much raw pain, the one thing I posted on social media was the absolute goodness of God. So never doubt in the darkness what God has taught you in the light. But it’s not just head knowledge. In the sun we are taught the things we will need when the clouds inevitably roll in, the lightning strikes, the wind howls, and the rain falls. These truths are more important now than they’ve ever been. This is where the rubber meets the road. Only the great truths of the Christian faith are sufficient to engage the harsh realities of a sin-filled world. We need wisdom from above to navigate our way through difficult circumstances.
In the 19th chapter of Job, we find our hero in the midst of great anguish. His friends have all pointed the finger of accusation in his direction. Job is in the throes of deep despair yet in verses 25-27 he is reminded of a lesson taught to him in the light: But I know that my Redeemer lives, and in the end He will stand upon the earth. Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God. I will see Him for myself; my eyes will behold Him, and not as a stranger. How my heart yearns within me!
Job knew that a redeemer would come in the flesh and walk upon the earth. Not just a redeemer but HIS redeemer. He knows after his skin has turned to dust that he will live again. He will see God in his own flesh and with his own eyes He will behold God’s face. This is the glorious future Job yearns for. Jesus Christ is not just Job’s redeemer, but Kamber’s as well. He is our redeemer too if we will simply put our faith in him. Kamber’s ashes will be scattered in the wind and mixed with the earth but she’ll not be forgotten. She lives in our hearts and in our memories, but most importantly Kamber is remembered by God. Scripture says the Almighty is not a God of the dead but of the living, for all are alive to God. Kamber is alive today, did you know that? Her spirit is with God. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. She is more alive than any of us. But the news gets even better. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Just as Job hoped in the redeemer to come, Kamber has hoped in the redeemer who has come and she will live again in the flesh, and her eyes, once dimmed by her afflictions will behold God’s face in startling clarity. She will praise God with a voice that will never again falter. God will wipe away every tear from her blue eyes. There will be no more sickness, cancer will never again take root when she receives her glorious new body, and she will never again know pain or death. Pain – Death… Those words will cease to have any meaning. The former way of things will pass away for all time. She can now claim victory over the last enemy to be defeated and say with conviction: O death where is your sting? O grave where is your victory? Death is swallowed up in victory. The worst is behind Kamber now and her future is full of light, warmth, endless joy, and glory forever. The old ways of life in a sinful world will be forgotten, so wonderful will be the new world to come. It won’t even come to her remembrance. As it is with Kamber, so will it be for all of us who cling fast to our redeemer by faith, who sits enthroned at the right hand of God and reigns forevermore. Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ bids us come. Remember, never doubt in the darkness what God has taught us in the light. May we all join our beloved Kamber someday in that heavenly realm where we’ll relish in her unending happiness, savor her unfading smile, and delight in her unceasing laughter. Amen.