Job: Part 1 - (Job’s Distress): Life on God’s Terms

“Then his wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women would speak. Shall we receive good from God, but not trouble?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips.” Job 2:9, 10 

The Westminster Catechism states  “The chief end of man is to glorify God, and to enjoy him forever.”How do I satisfy my purpose in life by cursing it? We know the answer.

Well, Satan failed to dent Job’s righteousness so he challenged God...”he’s like any man. He doesn’t care about stuff. If you attack him personally he will curse you.” So, God said to Satan, “Very well, then you may attack him physically; but you must spare his life.” So Satan afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. His pain was so severe  that Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself. 

His wife said to him, “why do you still trust God? Curse God and die!”

But, wait a minute. What’s she still doing here? I thought Job lost everything. Chrysostom (Archbishop of Constantinople 347-407), asked the same question; Because, he thought, he could use her as a tool to defeat Job. Whatever the intent, that was the outcome. She encouraged Job to do exactly what Satan wanted him to do. I don’t know Job’s wife. I’m sure she was a fine woman but...everybody has there limit. She was certainly grieving the loss of her children and her possessions. Now she had to deal with the physical agony her husband was enduring. She was probably mortified, wondering what more could possibly go wrong. She knew her husband was a righteous man and didn’t deserve any of this. All she could think of was a way out for her husband...and herself. So, with best intentions...

Curse God and die...suicide by sin

We understand the temptation. We have all walked with friends through their valley of the shadow of death. We want to do something...anything! It won’t be the last time we hear this same advise offered to Job, however well intentioned. But, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. Unfortunately, it isn’t well thought out because it puts the proverbial cart before the horse. After all, the first (and foremost) gift we receive is life. Everything we receive after that is tertiary in that it is contingent on the presence of life itself. Pleasant, happy, abundant, wealthy, easy, satisfying...you name it...are all adjectives attached to life. As are miserable, worthless, meaningless or empty. Adjectives are subordinate to the subject since their existence depend on the subject. No subject...no adjective!..

And, the one thing we know about life is...it’s God-given. 

Or...do we? If we did, we would understand life is the only thing we have that is sacred and has meaning. Everything that attaches to it? Not so much. So the suggestion that Job end his life in order to be liberated from the profanities attached to it is, at best, upside down. At worst, it’s evil. It suggests the divine is subordinate to the profane. And that, my friends, is sin.

My preferred tool in clinical counseling is the simple question...”what does this mean”. After listening to a client’s travails I try not begin with a list of corrective actions even though some may be painfully self-evident. I ask them to examine what their trouble means. And that meaning inevitably derives from our understanding of who God is (or, isn’t) in our lives. As believers this shouldn’t only lead to the answer “God did it” but to another question; what is God doing? Job’s interpretation was steadfast and clear; “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away. May the name of the Lord be praised.” 

(Mic drop)

Martin Luther said, in his catechism, “this means I believe God created me...gave me my body and soul, eyes, ears and all my members, my mind and all my abilities...that God preserves me by richly and daily providing all I own, and all I need to keep my body and life. God also preserves me by defending me against all danger, guarding and protecting me from all evil. All this God does only because he is my good and merciful Father in heaven, and not because I have earned or deserved it. For all this I ought to thank and praise, to serve and obey him.” This is where Job’s wife’s use of the word integrity rings loudly: can I, as person of integrity, accept the things I perceive as blessings and  refuse those I perceive as trouble?

Job couldn’t...nor can we.

What is our intention in helping others? Is it to fix the situation or to understand it? We may not help make their life painless but we will help make it meaningful.

Live boldly out there today...

Job: Part 1 - (Job’s Distress): If I have nothing, I have nothing to lose

“In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.” 

Job 1:1, 3

We’ve seen, or heard, the meme, “whoever dies with the most toys wins.”

It’s a reasonably accurate assessment of life in first world nations...our affluence is what defines us. Affluence produces all sort of anomalies in our character: greed, hedonism, vanity,  even philanthropy, guilt and shame for some who have social conscience. More likely, affluence only reveals what’s already there. One thing we know for certain, when we have the resources to get whatever we want, what we have tells us who we are. 

We spend our lives accruing things (you should see my basement) and at some point we decide to “downsize” or “simplify.” For many of us, that process results in having less “stuff” but, I notice the quality and value of what’s left seems to increase. Yes, life seems to be about stuff. Not necessarily by design, but simply through the natural order of things. Every day we need something and...if we have the resources...we get it; food, water, shelter. If we have sufficient resources we get steak rather than rice, San Pellegrino rather than tap water, a house rather than an apartment. There isn’t a thing inherently wrong with this natural order.  Over time, we own a lot of stuff.

Or...does it own us?

Job was truly blessed.  “He had seven sons and three daughters, and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants”. (V. 2)” We might infer he was part of the one percent in his day. Which begs the question; what did all this “stuff” say about Job? Well we know He regularly sacrificed a burnt offering for each of his children just in case they had sinned (v. 5). We know he was blameless and upright, a man who feared God and shunned evil (v. 8).

Which brings us back to the original question: Was Job’s righteousness the result of the lavish blessings God bestowed upon him or, did they merely reveal who Job was?

There are some things that make me question the historical events surrounding Job. Most curious is the dialogue between God and Satan. How could Satan (evil personified) approach God when we know God will not tolerate evil? Why would God ask Satan where he had been when God is omniscient?  It’s possible the Account of Job is not historical but is parable. This question is simply a distraction and only serves to diminish the point of the lesson. 

Satan loves to distract and dissemble...

I shy away from the notion this is all a cosmic game of “truth or dare” between God and Satan. That would malign the holy and loving character of God while burnishing the character of Satan who has no standing before the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. Nevertheless, the question is posed...does Job serve God for nothing?

And the story unfolds...absolutely, Job serves God for nothing.

Satan takes it all away...in a flash...and Job responds with these eloquent words:“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Job 1:21

Job’s affluence did not own him because he knew nothing he possessed was his. I need to remember this when I get frustrated with the state of my IRA that I worked so tirelessly to build. However, we need to remember loss was painful for Job just as loss is painful for us. The question for us today is clear: Will history testify about us as it testifies concerning Job? “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.”

Remember...if we have nothing...we have nothing to lose.

Live boldly out there today...