Job 8
Scripture: Job 8:20-22 “Lo, God will not reject a man of integrity, Nor will He [l]support the evildoers. “He will yet fill your mouth with laughter And your lips with shouting. “Those who hate you will be clothed with shame, And the tent of the wicked will be no longer.”
Observation-What does it say? After tragically losing everything he owns and experiencing the death of his children, Job is sitting in the counsel of those who claim to be his friends. The first one to interject into the situation, Eliphaz, starts his plea to Job in a way many of us have heard before, “Don’t get mad bro, but…” Eliphaz then claims Job is being punished because he has helped people who were sinful. Now in chapter eight, we hear Bildad’s argument against Job. Bildad comes right out with his belief and, in a nutshell, states, “Job, this calamity has happened to you because you are sinning.” Both Eliphaz and Bildad reasoned that God only allows bad people to experience bad circumstances.
Understanding-What does it mean? Life, on a large scale, is full of cycles. Take finances for example, about every ten to fifteen years there will be a cycle of recession and growth. Having grown up with family in construction, I learned to look for this cycle. In good times, my dad would have work constantly, and in bad times, we would be lucky to be going from paycheck to paycheck. So when I was a young adult and working in construction, right around 2006, I noticed the market was starting to turn towards recession and I got out of construction. When the recession hit in 2008, my wife and I took full advantage of it and bought a house in 2009. But, I was a lucky one.
I remember reading newspaper articles about people who had lost so much money during the recession that they were taking drastic measures. Many people I worked with had lost tens of thousands of dollars in the stock market and were working ungodly amounts of overtime to cover the loss. Still others were willing to not only commit suicide, but also take the lives of their family because they believed there was no recovering from the loss. Did any one individual that lost money in the recession cause that to happen?
When we face trying times, it can be tempting to have the first place we go to be anger and resentment towards God. When we find that we have lost a job, gotten in an accident, or experienced the death of a family member, it is so common to ask, “What did I do? Why are you doing this to me, God?” But, the answer isn’t always in figuring out where we sinned to deserve such treatment. Often times, we are asking the wrong question all together.
One verse that I have struggled with during my life is James 1:2 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials,” But the more and more I work through trying times, whether it be an accident and injury, trying situations at work, sickness, or a period where my kids are being a royal pain in the neck for no reason, I am learning that there can be joy found in these things. I am also learning not to ask “what did I do?”, or “why me?”, but rather, “what are you saying to me, Lord?”
In chapter 2, when Job’s wife was trying to give him counsel, he responds to her by saying, “Shall we indeed accept good from God and not accept adversity?” If we echo that into what James was saying in chapter 1:3-4, “knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”, we will find that trying times are not necessarily a sign of God’s wrath, but a sign of His love. He allows us to go through hard times, so that we will grow closer to him, becoming more complete as we draw closer and closer to being with him in heaven.
Life Application: Jesus be near to my heart. Help me to accept the bad with the good. Never let my heart turn away from an opportunity to worship you. Help me to sing like the old hymn, “It is well with my soul.” No matter the circumstance, help me to ask, “What are you saying to me?” Help me to know that you are near, even when I am in distress.
-Tyler Galloway