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.