Thursday, January 13th

I am not at all surprised that Jesus was a carpenter. When you look at God in the physical realm; He builds things. (landscapes, stars, ponies, etc.) In the social realm He is again a builder. (marriages, communities, governments) And last but certainly not least He shows Himself to be the master architect of the spiritual. How does God build in the spiritual sense? Platforms; God uses platforms. Talent, resources, personality, friends; all platforms that can and should be used for God’s glory. What is the greatest platform? I believe it is tragedy. Tragedy used for God’s glory can make a man the subject of a conversation (or blog) some thousands of years after his death. But tragedy still hurts.

In Job chapter 3 we pick up after seven days of silent mourning. I really believe that chapter 3 loses some of its “raw emotion” if we don’t pause and think about those past seven days. Besides losing his wealth; Job has lost his children. We don’t know how many children exactly as if one was not enough. We know from the text that Job has experienced the sudden and devastating loss of at least four children (i.e. “sons and daughters). He has also lost his health and now has spent the last seven days sitting in the dirt scraping painful boils on the flesh that covers his broken heart. There is nothing in the text to indicate that Job has left his land. Do you know what that means? That means he sees the hills where his kids used to play. He sees the lake where they fished together. He sees the tree under which they all used to sit and talk about God and His goodness. His face is raw from the salty tears that have caused his wounds to become even more infected. He hurts.

Then Job breaks his silence. I don’t believe when Job first said these words that they came out the way that we read them today. I personally believe that after time Job retold the story in the form of a poem to make it easier to tell. Remember that oral tradition was how most stories were passed down. I do however think that Job was a gifted poet. How often God takes those skilled at art and gives them “subject matter.” This first “poem” is much more Edgar Allen Poe than Henry David Thoreau. What comes next is not blame. It is a true outpouring of human pain and suffering.

“I wish I was never born!!” Job recounts the steps that his life has taken to bring him to where he currently sat. He wishes the night that his parents conceived would be forever blacked out. He then wishes that his birth would have been a still birth; where the “slave is free from his master.” Notice what Job says in verse 23. Job rightly puts God in control of his pain. Truth be told God could have kept this from happening. God could have immediately eased Job’s pain. This is a theology that so many people refuse to accept.

When I was very ill with leukemia a loved one had made mention about what “God was doing” through my illness. This statement was made within earshot of another family member who immediately responded by saying, “God didn’t want this.” I had to think long and hard about that. I was in pain. My wife was facing the loss of her husband after only three years of marriage. But did this disease just slip past God and His attention? Did I want to worship a God that couldn’t control the white blood cell count in my body? No I didn’t. And no I don’t. He is in control. I came to accept that, like Job, there was a scene in the throne room of God that I did not know about. In that moment I chose to believe that His ways are higher than my ways. But… it still hurt.

In chapter 2 verse 11 we saw that Job got a visit. He has not been alone for these past seven days. He has companions who have heard about the tragedy and come to be with him. Why did they come I wonder? If it was humanitarian aid; there is no record of them bringing anything. I’m afraid that the only thing they brought is what far too many other believers bring to tragedy; they brought a narrow view of God. It is at this point that I will not be casting any stones. I too have sat in hospital waiting rooms, near burned down houses and at funeral homes with a narrow view of God. I don’t want to do that anymore. Back to Job…

His first friend to speak is Eliphaz. Eliphaz is a Temanite. Teman was an important city in Edom known for its collective wisdom. Eliphaz starts off with an acknowledgment of the good that Job is known for; “you’ve helped others and taught others.” Then comes what he thinks he knows about God; “good people prosper, bad people suffer.” What’s the conclusion? Job’s suffering must be because of some hidden sin. Eliphaz uses nature as an argument to say that nature can’t escape natural law so man (especially Job) cannot escape God’s moral law. Eliphaz even claims a vision which may have been stated to give his analysis of the situation some type of authority.

There are a lot of particulars in the speech given by Eliphaz and we will pick up with that next week. Ultimately what it boils down to is your view of God and your view of… you. When the hurt is on how big is your God? Does your God know what He’s doing even if you don’t? Are you able to hold fast to the truth of God’s nature when dealing with “wise people” who do a lot of “looking around” rather than “looking up?” Tragedy hurts but God is on the throne!