Job 16:1-10, A Letter to Edna (5)

Read Job 14:1

I mentioned this passage before but here is another thought: trials are an expected part of every life.  There is just no room for the self-pity that says, I am being singled out, picked on.  Remember 1 Corinthians 10:13: There hath no temptation/trial taken you but such as is common to man.  Though we feel that none has ever gone our way, we must not give in to that snare.  So often a person’s sufferings are much more private than yours have been.  Or they are of a nature different than ours.  Sometimes people suffer through situations that would not cause us to grieve.  Yet their grief is real and intense.

Read Job 15:31

This passage again speaks to the issue of hope.  My translation says, "Let him not trust in futile things, deceiving himself, for futility will be his reward."  In grief we must come to a deeper understanding of God and a deeper relationship with Him.  If Job would have soothed his sorrow in beer and wine, beer and wine would be his reward.  If he just gathered around friends and partied to forget his dead children, then the feast would be his reward.  Instead, he struggled, and then learned to be wholly trusting in God and this became his reward.

Read Job 16:6

A simple thought occurred to me here.  It is important to talk about our grief and sorrow, though even that is not the ultimate answer.  There are at least 2 reasons why I think talking is important.

  1.  First, the soul/inner man needs expression of itself for a certain degree of release and relief -- though as Job says, "my grief is not relieved."  It is just helpful in the struggle not to keep things bottled up.

  2.  Second, speaking keeps us from the danger of being "wise in our own eyes."  We are sometimes silent because we are arrogant, thinking we know the answers and need no help.  But this denies the Proverbs (Prov. 12:15; 16:25, etc) as well as what the Lord has in mind for brothers and sisters in Christ.

ƒ       Romans 12:15: weep with those who weep.

ƒ       Galatians 6:2: bear one another's burdens.

ƒ       1 Thessalonians 4:18: comfort one another with these words.

Pastors are supposed to be good at and available for this.  I'm not all that good but desire to be available.  Look also to other believers with whom you share your Christian life.