This week we have been reading the
story of Job. Like many through the ages, I have come to Job
for comfort during my darkest days. In times gone by, I have risen at
dawn to read this story. [In fact, it seems as though I can feel
the cool sand of the lakeshore on my bare feet and hear the soft
lapping of early morning waves and the beginnings of birdsong as I open my
Bible today.] At other times, I have read this story in the dark of night
when my house was silent and still. In my old paperback Bible, the pages
of the book of Job are a mess...pencil notes, tear stains...you probably know
what I mean. My "relationship" with the book has felt
so deeply personal that I have wondered all week "What will
I, what can I write about Job?" Deep breath...
In two of the three chapters for today's reading, Job speaks...he is without hope; he feels as if his own destruction would be better than the emotional and physical pain he is experiencing; he wants to understand; he feels as though he has a target on his back. He is all of us. While we may not have lived the same losses that Job has lived, in our heart of hearts, we all have lived his despair. In times like these, we begin to question our faith, our mortality, our relationships, ...our God. "Why me?" we might ask, "Why Job?"
Often, in times like these, the words of friends offer no comfort to us. Sometimes they don't even make sense. They cannot penetrate our sadness. So it is with Job. No matter how well-intentioned Job's friends may be, and I often wonder about even that, their words do not do the trick. Bildad, in chapter eight, may be trying to make sense of the situation, but he does not comfort Job. Offering comfort, being comforted are not always easy for us.
After living through these chapters with Job this morning, my comfort came from Psalm 27. I know we are just beginning this journey with Job...more lies ahead, but I would like to think that, when he is on the other side of this trial, he, too, will find comfort in Psalm 27.
In two of the three chapters for today's reading, Job speaks...he is without hope; he feels as if his own destruction would be better than the emotional and physical pain he is experiencing; he wants to understand; he feels as though he has a target on his back. He is all of us. While we may not have lived the same losses that Job has lived, in our heart of hearts, we all have lived his despair. In times like these, we begin to question our faith, our mortality, our relationships, ...our God. "Why me?" we might ask, "Why Job?"
Often, in times like these, the words of friends offer no comfort to us. Sometimes they don't even make sense. They cannot penetrate our sadness. So it is with Job. No matter how well-intentioned Job's friends may be, and I often wonder about even that, their words do not do the trick. Bildad, in chapter eight, may be trying to make sense of the situation, but he does not comfort Job. Offering comfort, being comforted are not always easy for us.
After living through these chapters with Job this morning, my comfort came from Psalm 27. I know we are just beginning this journey with Job...more lies ahead, but I would like to think that, when he is on the other side of this trial, he, too, will find comfort in Psalm 27.
Dear Job!!! We owe a great debt of gratitude to someone (probably King Solomon) for the magnificent poetic reordering of the Book of Job and The Proverbs. Among the most serious literary scholars Job ranks literarily along with the works of Homer. Spiritually, among the ancients (and, probably the moderns), The Book of Job outshines them all.
ReplyDeleteWe, of course, have the great advantage of the prologue to the story of Job telling why such things are happening to this man of deep faith. He, of course, had no such advantage. How deeply distressing it must have been for such a faithful man. As the old saying goes, "With friends like Job's, who needs enemies? For a few minutes, put yourself in his shoes and try to imagine what might have been your response for your entire lifetime of faithfulness. Were you just being used as the plaything of the Almighty? Job chose to trust God, no matter what - even if God should slay him. Shakespeare catches a bit of that when he says in his sonnet, "Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, O no, it is an ever fixed mark . . . ."
With hindsight and the advantage of the few words of the prologue, we have the spiritual insight given to us that suffering and all that accompanies it is preparing and enriching us for the glory of the life of the world to come. What spiritual insight we have from the life of this ancient man, Job - Dear Job!!!