"I loathe my very life....Why then did you bring me out of the womb? I wish I had died before any eye saw me. If only I had never come into being...." (Job 10, NIV)
There are people like this all around you. They may even be in that "pew" in front of you in church-------------- with hands raised.
There is a song which came out several generations ago entitled, "Smile." One verse says,
"With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile."
But those in such a state as was Job know that it takes much more than just, "Smile."
The pain of someone who says such things as in our text is more than we can imagine. Life is over for such a person, and far too many just give up with life and end it. But there are many around us, perhaps we pass them every day somewhere, at work, the store, school, who just keep plodding along in life, never coming to any sense of victory, "overcoming," or "break through." A smile just covers a broken heart.
Job was in a very deep "hole." As the Book continues to unfold, Job doesn't seem to get any relief; the Words of our text just keep plaguing Job in one form or another. We know that Jesus, "The Word of God," finally speaks to Job, "out of the storm." Perhaps, "the storm," is the appropriate environment for Jesus to speak to Job, whose life, in a very real sense, had become one. Yet notice that the Blessed Trinity did not come to Job as you and I tend to come to people who are so down, discouraged, poor-imaged. There is a rebuke in God's Words to Job. In effect, He says, "Your inability to understand your life has led you to foolish speculation." Of course it does. That is all you and I are capable of apart from the Lord Jesus Christ reining in us. Job was doing what too many of us do with life. We look at that "life" instead of, "Looking unto Jesus." The temptation facing you and me is what Job gave into----- self-pity. Jesus told Job and tells us to get over it. Jesus "got over it" for us all.
While Peter was, "looking unto Jesus," he did the impossible. The moment he looked at "life," he sank. No, this is no an oversimplification of our existence. There are many who want us to believe that life is too complicated for Bible "answers." People have made a lot of money telling others that the answer to such an attitude as expressed in today's text takes a "professional," one who conducts seminars, writes books, yes, even preaches, to cure them. I can save you a lot of money. Fill every day with, "the Words of God," those "Words" which Job lost sight of, and keep Jesus' Thoughts/Words before us, sustaining us, empowering us. Jesus paid the cost for our "therapy" ----------- so we don't have to.
There are people like this all around you. They may even be in that "pew" in front of you in church-------------- with hands raised.
There is a song which came out several generations ago entitled, "Smile." One verse says,
"With your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You'll find that life is still worthwhile
If you just smile."
But those in such a state as was Job know that it takes much more than just, "Smile."
The pain of someone who says such things as in our text is more than we can imagine. Life is over for such a person, and far too many just give up with life and end it. But there are many around us, perhaps we pass them every day somewhere, at work, the store, school, who just keep plodding along in life, never coming to any sense of victory, "overcoming," or "break through." A smile just covers a broken heart.
Job was in a very deep "hole." As the Book continues to unfold, Job doesn't seem to get any relief; the Words of our text just keep plaguing Job in one form or another. We know that Jesus, "The Word of God," finally speaks to Job, "out of the storm." Perhaps, "the storm," is the appropriate environment for Jesus to speak to Job, whose life, in a very real sense, had become one. Yet notice that the Blessed Trinity did not come to Job as you and I tend to come to people who are so down, discouraged, poor-imaged. There is a rebuke in God's Words to Job. In effect, He says, "Your inability to understand your life has led you to foolish speculation." Of course it does. That is all you and I are capable of apart from the Lord Jesus Christ reining in us. Job was doing what too many of us do with life. We look at that "life" instead of, "Looking unto Jesus." The temptation facing you and me is what Job gave into----- self-pity. Jesus told Job and tells us to get over it. Jesus "got over it" for us all.
While Peter was, "looking unto Jesus," he did the impossible. The moment he looked at "life," he sank. No, this is no an oversimplification of our existence. There are many who want us to believe that life is too complicated for Bible "answers." People have made a lot of money telling others that the answer to such an attitude as expressed in today's text takes a "professional," one who conducts seminars, writes books, yes, even preaches, to cure them. I can save you a lot of money. Fill every day with, "the Words of God," those "Words" which Job lost sight of, and keep Jesus' Thoughts/Words before us, sustaining us, empowering us. Jesus paid the cost for our "therapy" ----------- so we don't have to.
Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to be a help. Amen.
Read about the tactics which Arab/Islamists have been using for years against Israel: jhs58.blogspot.com
When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"
Hebrews 12:2
Hebrews 12:2
