Can suffering be good for you? Well, that depends on your reaction to it. Some people become angry and bitter when hard times come their way (36:13). As a result, many try desperately to satisfy themselves with empty pleasures, only to find an early grave (36:14).

But there is another way. We can allow our sufferings to alert us to sinful habits or arrogant attitudes. If we do, suffering can be a source of great personal development, and we can grow through a painful season of life, ending up in a pleasant and prosperous place (36:11).

So, what’s the difference between these two approaches to suffering? A person’s attitude toward God. Those who allow their suffering to drive them toward God, those who listen to His voice and accept His correction can benefit from the experience. For those who thus allow God to open their ears through their adversity (36:15), suffering can in fact lead to their deliverance, driving them to embrace Christ as Savior and bow the knee to Him as Lord.

So what happens to the godless? What happens to those who don’t listen when God tries to use their suffering to point out their need for Him? Verse 12 tells us in no uncertain terms: “they perish by the sword and they shall die without knowledge.”

So, when suffering comes your way, which path will you take?

Job 36:5-16 (NASB)

5 “Behold, God is mighty but does not despise any; He is mighty in strength of understanding.
6 “He does not keep the wicked alive, But gives justice to the afflicted.
7 “He does not withdraw His eyes from the righteous; But with kings on the throne He has seated them forever, and they are exalted.
8 “And if they are bound in fetters, And are caught in the cords of affliction,
9 Then He declares to them their work And their transgressions, that they have magnified themselves.
10 “And He opens their ear to instruction, And commands that they return from evil.
11 “If they hear and serve Him, They shall end their days in prosperity, And their years in pleasures.
12 “But if they do not hear, they shall perish by the sword, And they shall die without knowledge.
13 “But the godless in heart lay up anger; They do not cry for help when He binds them.
14 “They die in youth, And their life perishes among the cult prostitutes.
15 “He delivers the afflicted in their affliction, And opens their ear in time of oppression.
16 “Then indeed, He enticed you from the mouth of distress, Instead of it, a broad place with no constraint; And that which was set on your table was full of fatness.