God knows what we go through

“Mortals, born of woman, are of few days and full of trouble. They spring up like flowers and wither away; like fleeting shadows, they do not endure. Do you fix your eye on them? Will you bring them before you for judgment? Who can bring what is pure from the impure? No-one! A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed. So look away from him and let him alone, till he has put in his time like a hired labourer.” (Job 14:1-6 NIV)

Have you ever been around someone who was in severe pain and very depressed? What they say might be something like we see Job saying here. You can hear the despondency in Job’s words and how he had given up any hope for a better life.

Life, he said, is like that of a flower: they spring up and then wither away. They won’t last more than a few days. They aren’t something that we can hope will be always there because they quickly wither.

It seemed to Job that God had determined that people’s days were numbered – and maybe especially his! Think about where Job had come from: he had been a well-respected leader in his community. He had wealth and a large loving family. Yet now he had nothing, not even his health. It seemed to him that God had set limits on his life and perhaps he had exceeded them and God had taken it all away from him. Since his days were numbered and short, why would God not let up so that he could enjoy what few days he had left? Why could God not look away so that Job could enjoy a moment of respite?

If he were a tree there would be hope: you can cut a tree down but the stump may sprout and grow again with new shoots. Just add water and growth can occur even if it looked dead. But it isn’t the same for people. Once you die, that is it! Once life has left a person there is no chance of awakening them. They are gone.

“If only you would hide me in the grave and conceal me till your anger has passed! If only you would set me a time and then remember me! If someone dies, will they live again? All the days of my hard service I will wait for my renewal to come. You will call and I will answer you; you will long for the creature your hands have made. Surely then you will count my steps but not keep track of my sin. My offences will be sealed up in a bag; you will cover over my sin.” (Job 14:13-17)

Job had given up hope that his life would be any better than what he was then experiencing. He wished God would hide him in the place of the dead and set a time to remember him and bring him back after his anger was gone. In Job’s mind he concluded, with all he was suffering, that God must be angry with him. If God would only release him from his painful condition –  then when God called, Job could answer. As it was there wasn’t much Job could do.

Job was consumed with his own pain and hopelessness. He longed for something better but could not see any hope of improving.

What Job describes is what some people still live through each day. What encouragement can we give someone like this? How do we continue if we are faced with a life that seems to be without any hope of getting better?

We may not understand why this is happening, but we need to trust that God is with us – he knows what we are going through and, as Christians, we realise that the best is yet to come. Our hope cannot be in this short life!

Image created by Apple’s ImagePlayground by Jon Galloway.

Readings for next week: Job 14-21