Job 8 - Why Me?

In our last declaration we learned that Job was in a deep state of depression and that other well-known men of God also had at least one bout of depression: Prophets Elijah (1 Kings 19) from the hit placed on him by Jezebel and Jonah (Jonah 1) who ran from his responsibilities of admonishing the people of Nineveh to repent.  Though their circumstances were different their suffering was quite similar and included pity parties also known as feeling sorry for themselves to the point of wishing they had never been born.   The Three Amigos (Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar) added proverbial salt to Job’s already wounded spirit but he handled himself with dignity and answered with amazing wisdom until he started to spiral downward and began his pity party.  He invited the Amigos, but they would have no parts of it because they were convinced he was a guilty hypocrite suffering from self-inflicted wounds – sin – though they couldn’t tell him what his sin actually was.  Was Job justified in hosting his pity parties which ultimately led to the full blown depression he created?  From a natural standpoint I want to say yes, he is human, we are human, stuff happens.  But from a spiritual standpoint I would say no.  But how could he have avoided it especially since he didn’t have the tools in place that we do in the 21^st Century; he didn’t know anything about grace because grace had not yet been introduced to mankind; there was no model to follow to say if he could make I can too and he was surrounded by condemning friends?  It’s one thing to point people to the bible; tell them to: “shake it off; just believe God; it will get better”, etc. all of which are true, but if they are so far down the black hole of depression that they can’t see their hands in front of their face, they aren’t going to hear that.  What do you say, how do you encourage them?  Sometimes physical silence and inward prayer are the best medicine.  What is physical silence?  Showing up where they are; letting them know it’s not necessary to talk, you just came to sit with them, cry with them or whatever they need and respect the process.  But in your silence you can pray for Jehovah Shalom to cover them with his peace.

Tania Not Tanya nugget:  They may not be able to pray but you can.  It’s called intercessory prayer – praying for someone other than yourself.  Pray for God’s wisdom as to what, when and how you should help.  By all means, don’t tell them you know how they feel because you don’t even if your experience was similar it’s not the same.  Don’t try to analyze the person and/or condemn them as the Three Amigos did to Job, that’s not our place.  Our place is to extend an ear, shoulder, and/or hand by way of support which will speak volumes to them in most cases.  Everyone is different so there is no cookie cutter approach. 

In Chapter 10 Job ends his comments to Bildad by stating that if he could argue his case before God one of the first questions he would ask is “why”?  No different than many of us do when we are faced with situations that are out of our control.  If you ask why long enough eventually the why may turn to blame no matter whether it’s our employer, family, friend(s) or things and when we run out of things and people to blame we will include God in the blame game.  God you made this happen, you made me lose my job, husband, child, money, home, etc.  You know why most of us do that?  Because we know that if God wanted to he could make all of it (the suffering) go away in a millisecond but if he doesn’t he’s mean, unjust, and unkind in our eyes because we don’t want to experience any discomfort.  The irony is that growth occurs in some form of pain or discomfort whether it’s the pain of retraining our muscles from exercising, the awkwardness of learning a new skill, or a baby cutting their back molars.  Why God, why, why, why?  Notice Job has not asked God to heal him one single time though he was in agony.  It seems he was more interested in satisfying his conscience about the “why” than he was anything else because he knew without a shadow of a doubt he lived a righteous life.  So the “why” is more from a place of understanding than whining because he didn’t want to suffer. 

Job believes he is at a point where he can’t take anymore but God loves us too much to allow us to enter into a test that will cause us to fail or be too much for us.  1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLT) says: No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.  God never haphazardly allows us to suffer needlessly.  There is a plan and purpose for every part of our life: And we know that God causes everything to work together^[a] for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.  Romans 8:28 (NLT).  I realize Job didn’t have this text to rely on but he still didn’t give up.  When you face your tests and trials, you can use Job’s journey as a point of reference and encouragement as well as scriptures like those above.  Job was completely out of line for insinuating he was suffering needlessly and for blaming God and even though he wasn’t thinking clearly due to his circumstances, it doesn’t excuse him.  He knew God loved him and cared about him, this was his “flesh” on full display, the spiritual man was too weak to fight. 

Another question Job says he would ask is for God not to condemn him but to show him his error.  The irony is that all of them, Job and his friends believe Job is being punished, except the friends believe he is being punished for good cause and Job believes he is being punished unjustly but they are all wrong. 

Job’s pity parties have led him down the highway of blame he then crossed over to Depression Street and was ready to move into bitterness, which is a human choice.  Bitterness doesn’t just happen, it’s a process.  He had one too many parties in which he flip flopped between whether God knew what was going on or he didn’t; whether God had abandoned him or not; that God was good or bad, just or unfair, etc.   While he may not have been fully moved into bitterness he was right at the cusp because he was convinced he had gotten a raw deal.  Granted, it may seem like he is within his right to be bitter because he didn’t “deserve” to lose his children, property and the support of his wife, but it was the wrong choice nonetheless. 

I’m out of time, but it is imperative to understand that our trials come to make us better, not bitter.

In His New Excellence,

Tania Not Tanya