Job 3:20-24 - "Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not
come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with
gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is
hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing comes to me instead
of food; my groans pour out like water.
Job had been sitting with three of his friends for 7 days.
They exchanged no words…but sat in deep silence until Job began to cry out a
long string of why questions. He cursed
the day he was born…and had no purpose to live.
His pain was so deep he felt God had forsaken him. He felt his only way out of his deep anguish
would be to never be born.
I am pretty sure that I am not the only one who ever asked
the same questions as Job. As I look back on my own pain…and constantly hear
requests form others to pray for their pain…I find myself asking God for at
least a small clue to why there is so much suffering in his world….at least
twice a week.
We will probably never understand the deeper meaning behind
suffering until we cross over into heaven and actually see the full glory of
God. We just are not given all the
answers to every question we ask. Just
like I did when my children were smaller…I waited sometimes to answer some of
the harder questions when I knew they were older…a bit more ready.
The writer of Ecclesiastes….a king named Koheleth …penned the beautiful words… “to everything
there is a season”… in chapter 3. He
reminds us in verses 10-11…of the total control God has over the world. It says…. “ I have
seen the burden God has laid on the human race. He has made
everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart;
yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”
I am thankful for the wisdom and faith of Paul. He must have felt like Job many times in his
suffering and imprisonments. I am so
glad God made him strong enough to give us the words in Romans 8:36-39 …. “ As
it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are
considered as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all these things we are more than
conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor
life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the
future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in
all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that
is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Part of Job’s problem was that he was afraid that death
would separate him from the deep love he had for God. He had no hope if God could not be a part of
his life. He saw so way out of his pain as long as God was not in the picture. Jesus
is the only one who ever fully understood the full meaning of death…and the
pain that comes from being separated from God.
He too cried out on the cross in Matthew 27:46… “About the ninth hour
Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ""Eloi, Eloi," "lama"
"sabachthani?""--which means, "My God, my God, why have
you forsaken me?" I find some strength in the mere
fact that nothing I could ever face on Earth will ever equal Jesus’ suffering
on the cross.
Father…thank you for this story that reminds me that Life is not about me again. Help me to never base my feelings for you on what blessings you give or take away…but on the reality of who you are. Thank you for giving Reinhold Niebuhr the words to the beautiful serenity prayer…that helps remind me to ask you for the… serenity to accept the things I cannot change…and take one day at a time….accepting hardships as a pathway to a deeper relationship with you…and a peace that passes all understanding of any earthly concepts I know. Amen.
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