August 7, 2012 – Job 6


21 “You see a terrifying thing and are afraid”. In Jobs first response we see that he knows he has done nothing wrong. This verse, directed at his friends that have come to help could be talking about many things, but I think that it is the whole idea of someone suffering that is not guilty of anything. That idea is terrifying. We still think so today. How many times do we see a situation and say “that person is a good person and didn’t DESERVE that”. How many times do we say that about ourselves. For us to look at Job’s situation is terrifying for us because we can no longer rely on our own actions to avoid suffering. Suffering is in the world and will fall on everyone, good, bad, indifferent. Nothing will hide us from that suffering. What we see as suffering in ourselves or in others is not a measurement of how evil the person is. It is just proof that evil is in the world and unbiased. The whole idea that you reap what you sow (Job 4:8) is turned on its head and shown to not be the rule many hold it out to be.

What is important is our reaction to suffering. Do we turn to God or away from Him. That is the test we undergo when we have our “Job moments”. When everything turns against us and people look at us and think “you didn’t deserve that” or “what did they do to deserve that” are we thinking the same or trusting in God.