The Job of Job

The what of what? This post has been speaking to me over the last few days, but I couldn’t find the words until this morning.

Recently my sweet mother in law said that she just knows that there is something more to the suffering she and our family have endured. Before I came along she had buried her own son, her first grandchild along many of her brothers. She endured other things that are not mine to share.

We talked about how some seem to float along life without the huge waves of grief swallowing them. How some seem to not struggle and juggle hardships the way others do.

I have always told myself that those like myself that have been ‘through it’ need those who haven’t to look to for strength. Like coming from addiction and pairing up a friendship with someone who has never even smoked a cigarette. How does that even work? I think those who have never done those things are an inspiration to those of us who have for the hope of our children’s futures. I can point that person out of a crowd, bend down to my child and say, “See him? He never once drank alcohol, never once smoked a cigarette. Isn’t that great?”

But what about those who suffer for no reason? No self-inflicted wounds. Just hardship. Why?

Think if the many men in the Bible. Think of Moses and his staff. His courage and leadership. Yes, he was scared at first, but he ended up being used greatly. David and his mighty men. David was brave from the beginning. Sure he was small and ruddy, but David did great things, so much so, that almost all of the Psalms are about him. Peter, Paul, Abraham, and all the others that pop into your mind…..But what about Job? What was his job (place) in the big scheme of things?

Job was living a good life, trusting in the Lord, doing what he was supposed to. Just like that, his life was stripped down to nothingness. All he knew and lived and cared for was wiped away in a day! That all happened in the first chapter of the book! The rest of the book of Job explains his thoughts and conversations with those around him that were prodding him to give up and die. At the end he gets back what he lost, but like my devotional pointed out today…he didn’t get back the sons and daughters he lost, just new ones. He would surely grieve those children who died the day he lost it all. It wasn’t the happy ending many would like to think because those individual children were living breathing people he could no longer hug and commune with. That feeling of loss would be with Job for the rest of his life no matter how many more children he would have.

Sorry to be such a downer, but the question remains, what was Job’s job in the Bible? I think it was for those of us that don’t get to skate through life without pitfalls at every turn. His story of loss reminds us to simply love God, even when it doesn’t feel like God is anywhere to be found. His job was to show us that God doesn’t kill, steal, and destroy as many would like to believe.

Maybe Job was the greatest of the men in Bible. Think about it. Moses was tongue tied, smote the rock when he should have talked to it, and didn’t get to see the promise land. Abraham didn’t wait on God’s promise and listened to the bad advice of wife and got Hagar pregnant. David wanted another man’s wife, in so much, that he had that man sent to the front lines of battle. Peter denied Jesus three times, even after being told by Jesus that he would do so.

Wonderful men of Bible, yes. They had their place, their jobs to do so we could look back on their success and failures and learn. But with Job, I think his story, his job, was to teach us that in hard times we shouldn’t mope around blaming God, we should worship and believe our way out of those times. And when we do….our job will be a living story, inspiration for the next generations that are watching us. Because I am sure our children and their children are watching how we Jobs make it out of hardships.

Image found on internet

Thank you for praying for husband. His results came back positive for cancer. The outcome looks very positive. Pray it has not spread and that we can be like during this time and be an inspiration to our kids.