January 4th reflection

At the moment, I am going through the book of Job. The first two chapters of the book of Job had been quite inspiring because Job is a upright man who love and fear God, yet he had to undergo a very severe testing of his faith. He lost all his possessions, his seven children and his health. Yet, he did not curse God. His wife turned against him and suggested that he curse God and take his own life. Despite all these pressures, Job still refuses to do what Satan had been trying to get him to do (curse God and die). He is still trusting in the mercy, love and grace of God.

From what I have learnt in the past few days was that even though I face difficulties, I should not curse God, resent what He is doing, refuse to acknowledge him as a just and good and loving God. However, I should receive these difficulties with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving.

Today, looking at chapter three, Satan leads three of Job's friends to come and comfort him, and when these friends arrive they are shocked at what they see. They sat in silence for seven days before they can muster up enough courage to speak to Job about his troubles. But they have begun to suspect that perhaps Job is going through something he really deserves.

Job Speaks

¹ After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. ² He said:

³ "May the day of my birth perish,
and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'

⁴ That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine upon it.

⁵ May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm its light.

⁶ That night—may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.

⁷ May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.

⁸ May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.

⁹ May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,

¹⁰ for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.

¹¹ "Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?

¹² Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?

¹³ For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest

¹⁴ with kings and counselors of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,

¹⁵ with rulers who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.

¹⁶ Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?

¹⁷ There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.

¹⁸ Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.

¹⁹ The small and the great are there,
and the slave is freed from his master.

²⁰ "Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,

²¹ to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,

²² who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?

²³ Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?

²⁴ For sighing comes to me instead of food;
my groans pour out like water.

²⁵ What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.

²⁶ I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil."

Chapter 3 opens with a bitter lament from Job with a cry in which he longs for death and cursing the day on which he was born. It had been weeks since he had been having these sores and God does not seem to explain what he is doing.

In this chapter, Job asked three questions.

The first one (verse 1-10) is, "Why was I ever born?"

Here Job is saying that he hopes his birthday will be forgotten (vs 3: May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!). He is looking back to the day of his birth and, although he cannot change that, he is saying, "May the anniversary of it be ignored. Let it be a day that is darkened (vs 4: That night - may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.), let no one rejoice in it (vs 7: May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.). Let it be a day of cursing instead of blessing (vs 8: May those who curse days curse that day). " The reason Job says this is "because I was born on that day; it produced me." (vs 10: For it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes).

His life has become so miserable that he longs for death. Although Job comes very close to cursing God, he never does. He does curse the day of his birth, and he curses what God has allowed to happen.

In Verses 11-19, his second question is, "Having been born, why didn't I die at birth?"

"Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?
Why were there knees to receive me?
and breast that I might be nursed?" (Job 3:11-12)

"My life has been totally meaningless," Job says. "It would have been better to have died when I was born."

Job views death as a time of rest, a period of solitude and quiet after the tumult and trouble of life (vs 13-19: For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout. The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master. ).

Job's view of death is a natural view, similar to one who do not know anything about the Bible at all.These verses indicate that Job's understanding of life after death needs to be enlightened a great deal, and that is one of the reasons why this suffering came into his life. At the end of the book, Job's view of death is quite different than it was at the beginning.

Job's third question is, "Why can't I die now?" "Why was I born? But, having been born, why didn't I die when I came out of the womb? And since that didn't happen, why can't I die now?"

Verse 20:

"Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter in soul,
to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure;
who are filled with gladness,
and rejoice when they reach the grave?
Why is life given to a man,
whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?

For sighing comes to me instead of food;
my groans pour out like water.
What I feared has come upon me,
what I dreaded has happened to me.
I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest; but only turmoil." (Job 3:20-26)

Job's argument is, "What's the purpose of my life? Of what use is a life that is so filled with misery that you can do nothing but suffer and feel anguish? My life produces only fear and trouble, so it would be better to end it now."

The commentary mentioned that he do not think Job is thinking of suicide -- he is asking God to take him home. There is no purpose to life, he says, when it is not enjoyable.

one of the reasons we have been given this book is to help us understand that life can still have a great deal of meaning even when it looks absolutely useless.

(Rephrased and quoted from Ray stedman)

My reflections:

Even though I am faced with difficulties and there seem to be no purpose to life (some of us may even long to be dead rather than having to suffer and face the turmoil), I have to remember that there is still a great deal of meaning to life. Even though I may feel very helpless at the point of time and death seem to be the most logical relief, hold on to Jesus for He is our source of strength and comfort. Life is not just all good and without worries. God sometimes allow troubles to be in our life without any reason. But at the end of it, when looking back at the troubles that had happened, there is some good to it as it makes me stronger and more mature. I am not going to share my same old exam testimony again..haha...I am sure everybody knows it by now. There were a lot of good things that I received from the exam even though everything doesn't seem to make sense in the beginning. Reminder for myself to receive struggles in life with a heart of gratitude and thanksgiving rather than a heart of resentment!

Signing off:

Stephanie, 10pm