The book of Job has a way of toppling our neatly stacked boxes of Christian behavior and tearing off the labels of our erroneous theology. It’s an emotionally messy and heart rending story. A life that doesn’t fit neatly into our Christian categories.
We frown on TV prosperity preachers and vehemently decry them as false. On the other hand, how often do we place another’s’ trials and hardships in that box of “I wonder what they did to deserve that sickness”?
Glimpses into Job’s Story
With just a cursory glance through the storyline of Job, one can barely help but wonder what secret sin Job was harboring for God to deal such devastating blows to his life. He does not look at all like a Christian. Job sits in the ash heap arrayed in a torn and dirty garment. Furthermore, when you draw near enough to hear Job’s emotional venting you wonder even more at his spiritual standing.
Meanwhile, we glimpse the finely robed appearance of Job’s three friends. We hear the pious sounding phrases that seem to correctly interpret Job’s situation. Unthinkingly, we give a nod of agreement in their direction.
Nonetheless, our perception is skewed. Our understanding is limited. It is not ours to cast judgment nor to make assumptions on what we perceive.
In Between the Beginning and the End
As I child growing up, I knew the beginning and ending of the story of Job. The gleaming phrase, “For I know that my redeemer liveth” (19:25) was picked from the rubble of Job’s life. That, too, was the other thing I remember hearing about Job.
The door had been shut on the life Job lived in between the beginning and end. In the same way, depression, mental illness and emotional venting was never talked about except in hush hush terms. Consequently, erroneous theology of a Christian’s life and behavior became a part of my thought process.
Mental illness became a sign of God’s displeasure, depression a sure sign of backsliding and emotional venting a sin. However, as I read the story of Job, I find him right in the middle of depression and emotional venting. I sit astounded as I read,
“In all this, Job sinned not nor charged God foolishly.” (1:22)
As I looked toward the perfectly put-together friends of Job, whom one could invite into their home without a thought I hear the truth from God as he speaks to Eliphaz.
“My wrath is kindled against thee, and against thy two friends: for ye have not spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.(42:7)
This is important stuff. God wants us to get this. He repeats it again in the following verse and tells Eliphaz that Job was accepted by him. Job had not sinned nor spoke against God. Furthermore, God tells Eliphaz to humble himself and ask Job, the ill-dressed, despondent, emotional venting man, to pray for him if Eliphaz did not want God to deal with him as his folly deserved.
The Messy and Hard of Life
Let that sink in! God knows that life is messy and hard. He knows the emotional lows and highs that we experience as humans in this stuff called life. There is no room for pious sounding phrases, immaculate garments and judgmental attitudes when we see a fellow Christian in the trenches of life. Moreover, we are not to automatically assume the worst when we observe words, actions and dress that does not fit into our “Christianized” boxes.
To my skewed theology, there were many phrases that Job uttered that would unchristianize him entirely. On the other hand, it would seem that his friends had checked all the boxes of Christian living. Yet, it was Job that God accepted.
There was an underlying bedrock of truth that Job lived by despite his heart breaking circumstances and vocalized despondency. He always came back to the truth that God was God despite how he felt or what he did.
What is your Mode of Operation
The dichotomy of Job saying, “I know that my Redeemer liveth” and cursing the day he was born does not sit well with most of us. We can’t make it fit into our neat and ordered Christian life.
We are wont to slam the door on the in-between days that we cannot categorize. Messing up our comfortable lifestyle and thought processes is not something we want to do. Consequently, we are apt to side with Job’s self-righteous friends more times than not. We gather our robes about us as we expound on the righteousness of God, all the while looking down our noses at our troubled companions. Rejection and not acceptance becomes our modus operandi.
God calls us to bear one another’s burden. To love as Christ loves. We need to care without censorship, love without expectation and accept without judgment. We must reject the thought that others must measure up to our standards before we accept them. Moreover, we must recognize that we do not know the whole story.
Finding the Way Through the Messy
As I correct my theology, and align my thinking to God’s perspective I catch a glimmer of what my response should be when I encounter another that is burdened down with the troubles of life. It is not to belittle or demean an individual and the deep emotional pain they are going through. Instead, I am called to care not to cause disrepair. Moreover, I am to sit with them in their heartbreak and listen as they vent. Furthermore, I can hold them when they cry and pray for them when they have no words.
Friend, if you find yourself in the messy stuff of life, hold on to God. If you are in an emotional valley of despair, it’s okay. God understands where you are. The highs and lows of human emotion does not scare God away. In the complex stuff of life you can know the Presence of God is with you in spite of how you feel. Live by what you know, not by how you feel. You are God’s child. His beloved. Know that you are wrapped in his Presence and held.
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