Read Job 2:10
Job has a great insight. Shall we accept good from God and not
adversity. In all his suffering Job has
not forgotten the blessing of God Whom he had thanked for his possessions and
his children. When we suffer intensely
it is important to remember the joys and blessing we have thanked God for in
the past.
Another thing: even as God's blessings are
undeserved, so we might say that adversity is not about what is deserved. I said earlier that "it seems" you
have had more than your share of suffering.
The fact is: there is no such thing as a "share of
suffering." Some seem to suffer
more but it has nothing to do with deserving.
Read Job 3:1
Job curses the day of his birth. Verses 2-19 expand this. The thing I see here is that Job is
expressing his deep pain. He is not
suicidal -- he's just expressing what is true -- I wish I did not have to endure this, that I had not been born. This deep despair CAN be the doorway -- no,
MUST be the doorway to total hope in God alone.
Read Job 3:20
This is the perplexing question. WHY must this suffering occur? But it is the natural human question. It is not the real issue as Job will find
out. He will not really see the answer
to this question. But it is human to
ask.
Read Job 4:6-7
This verse, the words of one of Job's
so-called friends, raises the major
issue in our trials. It is one of hope. The opposite of the despair of Job in 3:1
& 3:20 is hope. Hope is a form of
trust/faith. It is faith applied to the
future. "In this despair how can I
go on? How can I live with joy and
enthusiasm and confidence when such terrible things can happen without
warning?"
And note that Eliphaz raises false hopes. He says Job can hope in his
"reverence" and the "integrity of his ways". In other words, if Job's religion is adequate,
he will not suffer. If his life is
righteous or true he will not suffer.
But this is just not true. People
who become Christians because they think it will reduce their pain in fact do
not know Christ, the ultimate “Man of Sorrows.”
They do not know that man is born for trouble (Job 14:1). As a matter of fact, for us who know the
story, it was Job's integrity and reverence that got him into trouble, so to
speak. Back in Chapters 1-2 God pointed
out Job's integrity to Satan, who then sought to show how shallow Job was.
Read Job 6:9
Job expresses his desire that God would crush him, that he would cut him
off. This is an expression of Job's
despair -- all he has hoped in is failing him.
But note something so very important -- Job is trusting God. He wished GOD would crush him. He is leaving with God the time of his
death. Job did not take this to himself
(suicide) nor did he give it to Dr. Death (assisted suicide or
euthanasia). There is a time to die
(Ecclesiastes 3:2) but that time is in God's hands (Job 14:5).
I realize that this issue of time of death is difficult. We live in a world of tragedy ("She's
too young to die."), accidents, untimely death, etc. All we can say in the end is that while Satan
holds the power of death (Hebrews 2:14), God places limits on Satan so that
"our times are in His hands" (Ps. 31:15).
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