1 “I loathe my own life; I will give full
vent to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 “I will say to God, ‘Do not
condemn me; Let me know why You contend with me." Job 10:1-2
To be VERY Clear right up front:
I love my life; this post is not in any way a cry of despair.
Job was having a tough time of it, though-his children wiped out, his fortune gone, covered with sores and without a single clue as to why God was allowing these things to happen to him, a faithful God fearing man.
'Let me know why You contend with me.'
Further along in the narrative we hear God's answer to Job, but right here in chapter 10 Job hasn't a clue.
That is how it is for all of God's children. We are protected, yes-safe for Eternity.
But in this present age, in this troubled world...God allows some pretty horrendous things to happen to His children. Such catastrophe arrive without warning. Even the 'best' Christians: ministers, missionaries and Sunday School teachers have no special protection because they are involved in "God's Work".
Some bad theology which crops up (Job also got an earful of this stuff from his friends) is that if bad things happen to Doug (me), it is proof that God must be chastising me (Doug) for secret sins.
Bad, bad theology-it ascribes cause and effect to God's workings, as if we muttonheads could possibly parse out the Whys of what God does.
Nope. While God does indeed chastise me, the Why's belong only to God.
I don't usually share personal info here at FDW, but here is an example:
About three years ago I lost my job. Had been with the company 10 years, did good work, etc.
Was I being chastised? Purified? Tested? I have no idea.
The past three years have been tough, but through it all, I have learned more about the Grace of God than I could have if my life (which is His to do with as He sees fit) had been 'pain-free'.
After three years, I am back with the company, and my employment is more secure.
Job said, " The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the
LORD.".
In my case, the Lord gave me that job, took it away for His own reasons, and then put me back in that same place.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
I mentioned that God answered Job later on.
That answer is covered in chapters 38-42 of the book of Job, and it brings some perspective, understanding...but we still know only in part, and must trust God for the Why's and Why Not's we will never comprehend.
4 comments:
Once more I headed off in a different direction with the post than I had imagined.
It was going to be about something else entirely, but there are more days ahead for that stuff.
Feh. God made a bet with the devil, and Job was the coin they flipped. No more, no less.
"Job was the coin they flipped. No more, no less."
Hi Lu. Actually a whole lot more, as people for thousands of years have asked the same questions which Job asked.
Also, the (wrong) opinions his three buddies express have been echoed by many others down through the ages.
It's a fascinating book, and I encourage you to read it.
Let me ask you one:
If the N.E. Patriots win a Superbowl because a Defensive player makes a great play, how does the leader of the offense win "MVP"?
Brady watched from the sidelines as the play happened, and if not for that defensive play, he would have needed to score a very quick touchdown.
MVP should have gone to the rookie defensive player who made the play.
Ah well. Madden is now a Cub, and Baseball is looming.
The question is, "Why do the good suffer and the wicked flourish?" And it's a good one. The answer the story of Job gives is, "sometimes God makes a bet with the Devil that you'll blame God if life goes badly for you."
You will note that at the start of the story Job has ten children, and after the Devil takes over they all die. Eventually Job has ten more children to replace them. The story never intimates that the first ten were anything more than collateral damage as far as God was concerned.
A God who actually loved the world (aka all of humanity) or even just his faithful servants would not behave this way.
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