i’ve been reading some of the book of Job lately, and am astonished at what this man endured, and also what he “got away with” while still not blaming or cursing God.
let’s face it, before it was all said & done, he pitched a holy fit…
this is how it went:
he was the most righteous and blessed of everyone.
Satan says to God: “of course he’s righteous, it sure does pay off in his life! take it all away & see if he’s still your biggest fan.”
so God wipes it all away (and “it” was a LOTTA stuff and children), leaving only Job & his wife.
then, Satan says to God: “well, he still has his health! he’s still living, and man will give anything to keep his life. if you curse his body he’ll surely curse you.”
so God brings on boils and boils and boils.
then his wife jumps in and tells him to curse God and die. and his friends try to help by blaming it on Job’s sinfulness…
with every response, job defends himself.
then that young kid comes in, claiming to have all the answers, but still doesn’t quite get the story right.
then, when Job’s had enough, he decides to pitch a holy fit. yes, a Holy fit.
questioning God. demanding to know why in the WORLD this has happened.
THEN, things get scary – God shows up. and He practically says to Job: “who do you think you are to get in my face and question me?! Were YOU there when i made the whole stinkin’ world??”
Job’s response: “ok, sir, i’ll shut my mouth now. i repent in dust and ashes…”
He never calls Job sinful. He never removes his place as righteous. He still calls him “My servant Job.” wow. the friends get in trouble, but Job never does…
but, the WHOLE POINT of the story is that, even though God tells Job who He is, He NEVER tells Job why all that crap happened to him. the answer is that God is God – He’s in charge – so Job should trust Him.
question: even in the midst of our holy (and sometimes unholy) fits, do we trust Him?
Job did.
Love this! I’m also in Job right now and fresh eyes are seeing new things! Exciting times! And yes I have thrown some not so holy fits and some holy fits. Sometimes i trust him with all I have sometimes I hold some trust in reserve … sad but true. Sometimes it is harder to trust. Not sure why we hold trust back sometimes but I do. Those times are getting less and less.
Left something for you on my blog ….
During Mass last Sunday, my pastor’s sermon was on the “divine mystery.” How so much in our lives we simply can’t explain, don’t know why it’s happened to us, to someone else, etc. However, the joy, the ability to accept and find excitement within this mystery, in what we don’t know, perhaps are not SUPPOSED to know, is through our faith.
It’s definitely harder to trust when we can’t see the big picture. But I have to believe it’s that faithfulness that makes the end result that much sweeter. At least, that’s where I am today.
todays question-ouch.
you just threw a monkey wrench into my plan to grumble and obsess over something today…thanks:)
I think that’s a beautiful example of how God completely understands our humanness and our need to understand and know why…and at the same time He knows what is too much for us, and withholds His wisdom. What great mercy.
This quote from Ranier Maria Rilke speaks of it beautifully,
“Do not now look for the answers. They cannot now be given to you because you could not live them…At present you need to live the question. Perhaps you will gradually, without even noticing it, find yourself experiencing the answer, some distant day.”
This is an ouch subject….
Mandy.. it’s tough… But you gotta trust God….
Right now, I’m going through ANOTHER major health scare with my heart and at 41 I had already suffered a stroke on Thanksgiving. But I was feeling good. I lost a grip of weight, Got so close to God, and really started to work out and everything seem to go right and now the doctors are saying it might be something else. I just want to have a HOLY FIT all right. But, I think I’m just going to sit on it today. Maybe, pick up and the read the story of Job instead and TRUST in God on it.
Great post!!!
I have not always trusted Him. And I have certainly pitched some fits. But I believe that He is slowly teaching me to trust him more.
One point that Job brings out in my mind, too, is that I have to be very careful in my advice to others. God can and does definitely use friends to help discern his voice, but I have to watch that I’m not just assuming I know the answer. How weary Job must have been of the unsolicited advice of his friends, who would not believe his circumstances were not due to sin! As you pointed out, Job was righteous in the eyes of God…and he never gave in to Satan’s attempts to make him doubt that truth.
i’ve read this story a lot over time and tried to dig my mind into it…
right now the part that stands out is that
when he obnoxiously and desperately questioned God,
God showed up to answer/speak/do the questioning Himself.
…
Did you notice that when God told him that he couldn’t take HIS life, Satan didn’t touch his wife’s either. I have two theories for this. Spiritually, they are essentially one…to touch one is to tough the other, so he did not have permission to kill her either.
Second theory: she was doing more to help Satan alive than she would dead, so he left her alone.
I love about Job that his friends were so pitiful, and so spiritual, all at the same time. Sometimes, we expect too much of people, obviously!
Hello there! Isn’t blogland fun!!! Glad you found me through LPM because now I have the blessing of YOUR blog as well!
I do love me some Job. And oh the fits I have pitched!!! I also find it amazing and quite comforting that God allowed Job’s fit. He certainly put him in his place but it tells me that God would rather us be honest with Him than pretty ourselves up spiritually- although that doesn’t fool Him anyway.
And another thing I love about the story: Job’s friends were totally awesome . . .until they opened their mouths. There’s a lesson in there somewhere I think