Thanks to everyone who participated in the discussion from the previous post. These comments, along with several email comments I received, have helped form my tentative solution over the next few days. This first post will simply provide some personal background for why I am asking these questions in the first place.
Autobiography
As you have probably guessed, my questions about the book of Job are not purely academic. Many times during the past year, my wife and I have literally yelled to God, saying “We are not Job!” I dread waking up in the morning, because it seems the first question that pops into my mind is “How is my life going to get shredded today?”
Some people say, “Well, God must be disciplining you for something. Fix it, and life will get better.” Such people need to read the book of Job a little closer and see what God had to say about Job’s friends. Furthermore, people who believe that if you just “get right with God” then everything will be “peachy keen” are living in a fairytale land. In fact, if someones life is full of ease and comfort, I’d suggest that they are the ones who might need to “get right with God.” But I’m getting ahead of myself…
Not everyone is like Job’s friends. Many people have been telling us to “just focus on the positive things.” We tried that, but it seemed that just when we started focusing on something positive in our lives, it got taken away from us too. I also noticed that whenever I prayed for something, exactly the opposite happened. If I didn’t pray for something, but just hoped, things turned out as I hoped. It seemed that praying for something or focusing on something positive caused these things to become targets for God’s heavenly pea-shooter.
I know that lots of people have gone through far worse than I have. And lots of well-meaning individuals tried to remind me of that not-so-encouraging fact. To the contrary, becoming aware of how terrible some people’s lives have turned only tends to surface the question, “What in the world is God doing?”
This question brought me back to the book of Job. As stated in my previous post, I have always had issues with God’s treatment of Job in the book. The opening chapters of the book of Job remind me of the movie Trading Spaces where two rich, old men, in an attempt to answer the “nature vs. nurture” debate, decide to gamble with the lives of two hapless victims for $1.
So in an attempt to figure out what God might be trying to do in my own life, I have been doing a lot of thinking about the book of Job, and the events it describes. In my last post, I raised the issue. I want to propose a possible solution, but as I wrote it, it became too long to publish in one blog post, so I will spread it out over the next couple days.
Jeremy,
Wow, you sure poked the hornets’ nest with this one. The story in your last post was very well done — I love your way of bringing Job into the 21st Century and making it vivid. I’m really looking forward to reading what you’ve come up with.
By the way, ever read Archibald MacLeish’s _J.B._?
His,
Tim
Tim,
I cringed a little bit when I pressed the “Publish” button! I hate putting myself out there like this. Oh well…
No, I’ve never read the book (???) you mention. What is it about?
Hi Jeremy,
I don’t have any answers to your questions. It’s obvious you’re going through difficult trials. I’m just a simple minded person I guess. All I know to do is probably the things that you say don’t work like….. focus on God’s Word and trust Him.
I just went to a Women’s conference at our church this past week-end. A friend and the wife of one of our elders was the main speaker. She is 53 years old and found out back in May that she has lung cancer…. the fast growing kind. She was told that unless she gets chemo she would live probably one to two months. She took the chemo and was very, very sick from it. She is now finished with it and feeling good. Her cancer is still there and could start growing anytime again. But she was a beautiful example of complete trust in the Lord. She was honest and open about her feelings from day one of finding out about her cancer. She has recorded her journey daily since she found out at….
http://www.vickidees.blogspot.com/
She a beautiful Christian lady who is being transparent with her feelings all along her journey….. the good and the bad. But she was such a blessing to me personally because she used scripture to emphasize what she knows to be true.
God loves her.
God is working for her good ONLY.
She can trust Him whether He heals her or takes her home to heaven.
She said this…… “I have cancer and it is NO BIG DEAL because I have hope!”
Her hope is in the Lord. She inspired me, but not just with her testimony, but with her testimony along with scripture. God said it and that settled it…… good or bad.
Then there’s my friend, Gracia Burnham who was a New Tribes missionary along with her husband and children in the Philippines. She and her husband, Martin, were kidnapped back in 2001 by the Abu Sayyaf terrorists group who had connections with Osama bin Laden. Martin and Gracia were in 18 different gun battles in the jungle during their year of captivity until Martin was killed and Gracia was wounded, but rescued to go back to her children. The first time we saw her after the rescue (just a few days later), she said to us in a wheel chair with her wounded leg up and a smile on her face….. “It was a good day.” She was absolutely comforted by the fact that Martin was no longer chained to a tree at night. He was finally free and with the Lord. She was back with her children who she dearly missed for over a year. She has told us that she failed the test of trusting the Lord many times that year, but she KNEW that the Lord was always with them, and as she looked back she saw His Hand on them through it all. He answered every prayer EXCEPT the BIG one to get them out of there and be rescued. But God had different plans, and He was answering in different ways. She came home NOT a basket case, but someone all together who went through the fire and yet testified to God’s goodness even when she sometimes failed the test.
Whatever God is doing in our lives, He is ALWAYS and ONLY good and loves us with an everlasting love.
I know that you know that. You’re just looking for answers. I don’t have the answers, but I know the ONE who does.
Praying for you tonight.
In Jesus’ love,
Diane
Diane
Thanks for that story, Wow!
What a story.
But I agree, God is only good all the time.
I which I could fathom His love.
I just understand a little of the that love because of the CROSS, Wow!
Jeremy
Good subject it has really made me go back to Job.
Hey, for those of you who like to read.
So far it has been good reading that is, Roy B. Zuck’s book, Sitting With Job.
Amanda, I think you have hit on something with your thoughts.
I like that comment, Job wasn’t pick on he was pick out, excellent thought.
Jeremy I don’t know what your going through but I will try to remember to pray for you and your family.
Jeremy,
_J.B._ is a drama/long narrative poem on Job. It’s common in college English Lit courses, so you can probably find half a dozen cheap copies in your friendly neighborhood used bookstore. MacLeish’s contribution, other than bringing the story into the 20th century, making a great contribution to the tiny, tiny pool of American poetic drama, and winning the 1959 Pulitzer with it, is quite a bit of additional commentary by his God and Satan characters, a pair of washed-up actors who observe the Job story being played on a stage, and occasionally take part in it.
I use the play to mess with people who haven’t let themselves come to grip with the human suffering of Job, and have settled for an easy answer.
Of course, MacLeish’s answer is that God is thoughtlessly cruel, and — to quote the Job character, at the end — “He does not love. He / Is.” But that’s what makes it useful. I’ve seen countless facile answers to Job crumble before MacLeish’s onslaught. It’s like spiritual weight-lifting: the resistance forces us to do better.
His,
Tim
I believe that Job is like many modern-day Christians… He has good intentions, remains faithful, but is wrong. He blames God when God is not the cause. He tells himself that “God gives and takes away,” without realizing that God only gives and gives. The cause for his ills and circumstances is not himself, not God, but satan.
Hmm. Could be. It would certainly fit with our own experiences today!