The story of Job is probably the oldest
part of the Bible. It’s a story that we’ve been reading in the Daily Readings,
and we come to see that sometimes being the good guy doesn’t pay off. When the Shaitan, which we often call Satan,
makes a wager with God and God accepts, Job becomes the pawn in a giant chess
game. Job is set up to lose if he curses
God for killing his children and animals, plagues him with boils, and makes his
life generally miserable as he sits on an ash pit scratching his sores, using
pieces of pottery that were once used on his
own table. We feel sorry for Job, mostly
because he is an innocent. All of this happened to him not through any fault of
his own but because of a wager, a wager between God and the adversary that
seems a bit strange.
Usually, good friends will come and
commiserate when bad things happen. They’ll bring flowers, a casserole, an
offer of prayers, or to do something that the afflicted person is unable to do
for themselves. Well, Job had three friends, and those friends were what we
call Job’s comforters, although we wonder if comfort was actually what they were offering. They did
their very best, in long passages, to expound on how Job must have been at
fault for doing some vast wrong that
would make God punish him this way. One after the other they took up the topic
of Job’s unfaithfulness or perceived unfaithfulness. Instead of trying to help,
what they were doing was making things worse while trying to make Job see the
error of his ways.
Job finally got a chance to respond to
Eliphaz. He did not acknowledge
wrongdoing because he had not done anything wrong. He was merely confused as to why this was happening
and wondered where God was so that he could go to God and plead his case. I bet
any person finding themselves in a similar situation would do the same thing.
When things happen, people always want to
know why. The eternal question seems to be, “Why me?” Most of the time there is
a pretty simple answer: it happened because I did something wrong, something
stupid, or even something that I knew I shouldn’t do but decided do anyway just
for the heck of it. Sound familiar to anyone? I bet that at some point in time, each one of us can say
we had asked “Why me?” when in actuality
we really knew the answer but honestly didn’t
want to hear it. Job didn’t want to listen to
the spiel of his friends because they weren’t listening to him. They focused
only on their agendas and preconceived notions of what the problems were. They
didn’t hear when Job tried to explain
what he thought and knew. What good is a friend who doesn’t listen?
What Job didn’t realize was that God was listening to us the whole time. That is
something that we often forget when things go sour for us. We send our prayers
to God and hope for an answer, but sometimes there isn’t an answer. I know a
29-year-old young woman who was diagnosed with cancer several weeks ago, and
who, as a result, had to go through surgery to remove the disease from her body. It impacted not
only her, but also her husband, very young son, and her entire extended
family. I’m sure she asked, “Why me?” I
have a feeling most of us, at some point in time, especially if we faced
life-threatening illnesses, have asked the same question. Like Job, we want to present our case to God as to
why this really shouldn’t happen to us, and
we wait for an answer that may or may not come – at least with a clarity we
want and feel we deserve.
One of the purposes of prayer is not just
to place petitions before God but to also be able to verbalize to ourselves
what it is we want, need, or question. Prayer is as much for ourselves as it is
an appeal to God. When we confess wrongdoing to God or another person, it is as
much for ourselves as for the other person. We need to acknowledge our fault to
ourselves, with no equivocation or blaming of others. In the case of Job, he didn’t need to confess a weakness because he had not committed
one. What he didn’t realize was that God was listening
to him the whole time and had unshakeable faith that Job would not
waiver in his faithfulness. The Adversary had lost before the game even began; in
his arrogance, he couldn’t conceive of losing.
We may never be in the situation Job is in,
but as the young woman, it isn’t always
the guilty who have to suffer. Granted, I’m sure she sent up lots of prayers
and also has had lots of us praying with and for her. God doesn’t say it’s not
okay to storm heaven with prayers because God
hears all prayers. If the result turns out well, God gets the credit; if
it turns out badly, it’s laid down to God’s will. But is it really?
Job went through his ordeal, suffering and yet
continued to trust in God. In the end, Job was the real winner as his trial was over, and his losses restored many times
over. In the end, the young woman will
experience greater faith and greater trust in God. She will cherish her life
even more than she had before, and will be grateful for God’s blessings. It may
take a while, but it will happen. I have faith in that.
You see, I know God is listening to, loving,
and supporting all of us, without qualification or reservation. God wants us
all to know that to the deepest fiber of our beings. “Why me?” Maybe
it is because those in some form of trial need that love and support the most.
That includes sinners, those in pain, grief, as well as the righteous, all
inclusive, 100% guaranteed.
Believe it.
God bless.
Originally published at Speaking to the Soul on Episcopal Café Saturday, September 8, 2018.
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