What did that beleaguered fellow do? It seems he sat around much of the time, frozen in place by emotional and physical distress. He asked questions, as he tried and tried to comprehend his new, terrible state.
He heard the accusations of his friends, but did not move away as they attempted to solve the problem of "why". I suppose he hoped they would come to a conclusion that would make sense of the devastation.
In the end he found no truth or comfort in their attempts to define God in terms reasonable to created man.
Every thing that represented Job's life work was gone.
Every relationship, every achievement, every possession, every ounce of personal strength...every vestige of honor, dignity and worth.
But he didn't curse God.
"For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last He will stand upon the earth." In the middle of pain Job declared that God was still ruling, and that Job belonged uniquely to Him -- had been bought back, ransomed, redeemed. Ultimately, he professed that there would be a day when each earthly loss would be seen in the proper context ...there, "at the last."
Job cursed the day he was born. He begged God to take his life. But Job didn't die.
Sometimes continuing to breathe, move, live takes heroic courage. It is the ultimate expression of faith. I imagine Job's unformed prayers of submission:
Here I am. Without all the things that I thought gave worth, value, substance -- empty handed -- I will not choose to die. I will continue to be here, in this black hole, because I believe this is only a void from my perspective. Even the darkness is light to You. I will wait here for you to bring an end to this, whatever that end may be.
I believe that you are God.
From where, then, does wisdom come?
And where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
And where is the place of understanding?
It is hidden from the eyes of all living
and concealed from the birds of the air.
Abaddon and Death say,
‘We have heard a rumor of it with our ears.’
God understands the way to it,
and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’
and he knows its place.
For he looks to the ends of the earth
and sees everything under the heavens.
When he gave to the wind its weight
and apportioned the waters by measure,
when he made a decree for the rain
and a way for the lightning of the thunder,
then he saw it and declared it;
he established it, and searched it out.
And he said to man,
‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,
and to turn away from evil is understanding.’
