“…I will change my expression…” Job 9:27b

Once Job articulated his view of God, as erroneous as it was, he fell back into describing his misery. His days seemed to pass swifter than a runner, flying by without a glimpse of joy (v.25). Perhaps he remembered better days gone by when, as a boy, he played with papyrus strips – floating them down the river like little boats (v.26a), and saw eagles swooping down to snatch a fish from the surface of the water – both being used to describe the passing of his days.

Job continued in his faulty assumptions of God when he stated:

“If I say, ‘I will forget my complaint, I will change my expression, and smile, I still dread all my sufferings, for I know You will not hold me innocent. Since I am already found guilty, why should I struggle in vain? Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda, You would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.” (vv. 27 – 28)

Poor Job… he had no idea he was actually found favorable in God’s sight. It was God who asked satan to consider his servant Job, describing him in a very favorable light (read 1:8). Job was unable to consider his future. He was totally incapable of perceiving the celestial contest which centered around his faith and trust in God.

Have I convinced you yet? A severe season of suffering may cause one to make wrong conclusions about God, as well as lead one to giving up on life… literally despising one’s gift of life. Do you see his hopeless condition? Job felt hopeless – there was no fight left in him. He assumed God would multiply his suffering and the verdict of his guilt was irrevocable.

What are Christ-followers to do after peering into the life of Job? Surely, we are able to understand the effects of trauma upon one’s mind and its affects to one’s thinking. If we ignore the pain of others; if we dismiss another’s misery as irrelevant; if we are not Christ to those who are hurting and in need, then we need a serious time of self-inspection and consideration of just what our purpose is in this life. We are not only to bring the good new of salvation to the lost, we are also to minister healing to the brokenhearted and hope to desperate lives.

You’re the only Jesus some will ever see…

Have a blessed day…