Grief and Relief – Part 1
Let the day perish on which I was to be born, and the night which said, “A boy is conceived.” [Job 3:3]
Have you ever had it so rough that you wished you were dead? Hope not, but it can happen. Life has been known to throw some fast curve balls, and it’s hard not to strike out when it happens.
I’ve known this from personal experience. At times I have to watch myself that I don’t succumb to despondency. On such occasions I almost become convinced that I was born under a bad sign—but such thinking belongs to astrology, and I don’t subscribe to astrology.
Once there was this man named Job. He was a man of like passions as all men. His social estate was one of wealth and status. He wasn’t supercilious about it though. He aided the weak and less fortunate, helped the widows and orphans, and in general served his community with distinction.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the supermarket one day. Without warning his property perished through supernatural causes. Oh, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit.
As if the loss of his livelihood wasn’t enough, his seven sons and three daughters were dispatched to eternity in the blink of an eye. Again, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit.
One would think it couldn’t get any worse for Job at that moment…but it did! His wife turned on him and told him God was against him. To listen to wifey, he should get it over with. Stop clinging to his righteousness. Curse God and die!
She had some swell advice, don’t you think? Especially coming, as it did, at such a time in Job’s life. The only positive Job could cull from the situation by then was that the worst was over. I mean, what else was there that could go wrong, right?
Wrong! Job still had his health. Oops! I shouldn’t have said it. I jinxed him. Job lost his health too. Again, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit. Egads! Won’t it ever end? God, help me!
Such was the mess in which Job was embroiled, when we get to the story at chapter 3. Oh, no, I forgot a crucial detail to the story. Job still hadn’t reached rock bottom. He still couldn’t catch a break.
Job’s three “friends” arrived to “comfort” him, and they brought a young dude along with them who meant well but hadn’t the experience to actually do well. This young guy did have enough sense, though, to zip the lip and let the adults speak first. Alas for poor Job. He would’ve been the better if they had kept quiet too.
But we’re getting ahead of the story because, as chapter 3 commences, Job’s friends hadn’t yet begun to flap their jaws with their religious tripe and empty clichés. They did begin on a good note, by sitting beside Job for seven days and nights without attempting to give him advice.
Their presence no doubt was an encouragement to Job. That much was their duty as friends, dear people. They were there to keep quiet and be available for Job, so he didn’t have to feel alone under such duress. He needed their moral support, not their oral retorts.
Would that the story concluded on such a high note. Alas, but it didn’t. We will continue the tale on the morrow. For the present let’s spend some time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
Have you ever had it so rough that you wished you were dead? Hope not, but it can happen. Life has been known to throw some fast curve balls, and it’s hard not to strike out when it happens.
I’ve known this from personal experience. At times I have to watch myself that I don’t succumb to despondency. On such occasions I almost become convinced that I was born under a bad sign—but such thinking belongs to astrology, and I don’t subscribe to astrology.
Once there was this man named Job. He was a man of like passions as all men. His social estate was one of wealth and status. He wasn’t supercilious about it though. He aided the weak and less fortunate, helped the widows and orphans, and in general served his community with distinction.
But a funny thing happened on the way to the supermarket one day. Without warning his property perished through supernatural causes. Oh, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit.
As if the loss of his livelihood wasn’t enough, his seven sons and three daughters were dispatched to eternity in the blink of an eye. Again, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit.
One would think it couldn’t get any worse for Job at that moment…but it did! His wife turned on him and told him God was against him. To listen to wifey, he should get it over with. Stop clinging to his righteousness. Curse God and die!
She had some swell advice, don’t you think? Especially coming, as it did, at such a time in Job’s life. The only positive Job could cull from the situation by then was that the worst was over. I mean, what else was there that could go wrong, right?
Wrong! Job still had his health. Oops! I shouldn’t have said it. I jinxed him. Job lost his health too. Again, nature was the agent of destruction, but behind the scenes Satan was the culprit. Egads! Won’t it ever end? God, help me!
Such was the mess in which Job was embroiled, when we get to the story at chapter 3. Oh, no, I forgot a crucial detail to the story. Job still hadn’t reached rock bottom. He still couldn’t catch a break.
Job’s three “friends” arrived to “comfort” him, and they brought a young dude along with them who meant well but hadn’t the experience to actually do well. This young guy did have enough sense, though, to zip the lip and let the adults speak first. Alas for poor Job. He would’ve been the better if they had kept quiet too.
But we’re getting ahead of the story because, as chapter 3 commences, Job’s friends hadn’t yet begun to flap their jaws with their religious tripe and empty clichés. They did begin on a good note, by sitting beside Job for seven days and nights without attempting to give him advice.
Their presence no doubt was an encouragement to Job. That much was their duty as friends, dear people. They were there to keep quiet and be available for Job, so he didn’t have to feel alone under such duress. He needed their moral support, not their oral retorts.
Would that the story concluded on such a high note. Alas, but it didn’t. We will continue the tale on the morrow. For the present let’s spend some time alone with Jesus.
To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Numbers: Volume 4 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...
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