Yearly Archive: 2009

After a lot of years, I got to thinking about Job again. What I remembered about those long ago studies is still true, but there are other things that strike me.

This would make the perfect opera. Don't think that it would work as a stage play or musical. There isn't enough action and mystery for a movie – even if Disney or Spielberg got their hands around it.

I can see the big chorus off to one side to echo what Job and his friends are saying or singing to one another. Once, this was seen as simply Job, three friends and a kid (young man). But, there is so much more. There are moving scenes where his friends accuse him [more]of having done something wrong, and he needs to "fess up."

Then there is Job telling them he hasn't done anything wrong – he's "a good man. Why is this happening to me." His friend Bildad challenges him to stop running off at the mouth and check it out with God.

Job responds with a list of reasons for not arguing with God. Major reasons are "His wisdom is profound, His power is vast." But the cap is when Job says "Who has resisted (argued with) Him and come out unscathed?" If you have the time, read Job chapter 9 and see how Job has recognized the futility of man trying to win a fight with God.

Though Job was challenged to fight with God, his response to his friends is an explanation of Job's recognition of the awesomeness of the very God he worships. Job's response is respect for his God. What would ours be if all we had was destroyed and our bodies in major pain?

The story continues…

Many years ago, Job and his suffering got a lot of my attention. His was a story that can give you reason to pause when you are in trouble or something has smacked you up side the head. For some reason, Job just kind of got on my mind again, and so the reading started for a new look.

The new look has not changed my original perceptions. Maybe I'll divide the story in a different way,[more] but it's still all about three friends and a kid against a man who still honors (trusts) his God. Mustn't forget that bad guy who trys to get him to renounce his trust.

In this mix, is God who knows all, sees all and actually controls everything.

The story of Job is not about how much suffering you can live through, but about how you live through it. It is not about how mean Satan can be in his attacks, but about how we see beyond the attack to the solution that awaits those who have a hope in an all-powerful God.

Job survived in spite of his well meaning friends and his enemies. Even his wife factors into the picture – she wasn't much of a friend in need.

The real story isn't buried, but you have to look carefully at how things happen and how Job reacts to them – his response. Then look at your own life and measure your responses.