Sorrow: The Food And Drink Of Job

“The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

Job 1:21

Sooner or later we all identify with Job. Few of us will ever suffer the depths which swallowed up his life. The torment which consumed him, and more specifically his response, involuntarily draws us toward him. What is it about Job with which we so identify?

God exalted Job’s character to Satan. Satan then accused, “‘Does Job fear God for nothing?’” (Job 1:9). For Job was the greatest man among his people. So God permitted Job’s testing and, in the process, he lost all of his wealth, his business, his family, and finally his health.

What is it about this tragic story that captivates our interest? It is Job’s response—his undaunted response. Deep in every human breast we long to have the courage and character of Job. He is the quintessential Christian. He lived a blameless and upright life, fearing God and shunning evil. He was a godly person, and Job did not buckle when the juggernaut of life crushed him beneath its wheels.

The question which taxes our limits is, “Why?” Why did God allow Satan to consume the life of a “blameless and upright” man? The story of Job doesn’t give up that answer, and that is not the story’s point. This story is not rendered to help us understand how God works, but how man responds. It is not a story about the cause of sorrow, but our response to sorrow. This story is about submitting to the sovereign will of God.

Faith and Courage

Job is God’s gift to us to buttress our faith and courage. He transfuses hope into our bloodstream. Job becomes our food and drink; we eat him up, and slowly our own strength begins to return. He models the perfect response to the tragedies and heartaches which, sooner or later, befall us all. He is not perfect in the sense that he is without error, but perfect in that his faith in the Almighty never wavered. He is the paragon of faith. If anything, Job’s faith burgeoned. “‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised’”(Job 1:21).

To see one man defeat Satan proves that he can be defeated. If you cling to the integrity of God—His promised mercy and grace, then you can face a Job-like trial. You can taste the same pain and not be consumed. You can defeat the defeatable foe. Say to your calamities, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” Do not accuse God so that you, like Job, will also remain blameless. “In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing” (Job 1:22).

Hope

Job is God’s gift to stir the embers of hope in our hearts when waves of despair douse the flames of our enthusiasm. His courage encourages us—it inspires us to have courage.

Job was like us. He could not hold his tongue during the anguish of his testing. He spewed forth his own understanding of the nature of things, and in this he sinned. God reprimanded him, Job repented, and God accepted him. God loves contrite people.

“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first” (Job 42:12). God made “him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before” (Job 42:10). This is a glorious outcome, but it is not our hope. This is what God did for Job; He may or may not do it for you.

Our hope is not to gain prosperity, but to gain Christ. Job doesn’t model enduring pain for an expected outcome, but to show us how to respond to tragedy. In due time God restores, but sovereignly. Surrender your expectations to God and wait patiently for Him to restore you. Our hope is Christ.

Our faith and courage will sustain us. Even on the days when we are so bone-tired weary, so completely and totally fatigued that we don’t know how we can go on, the thought of Job can be our food and drink. His paragon will help sustain our maltreated minds, our broken bodies, and our sorrowful souls.

Do not rage at God over the injustice which besets you, even if it consumes your wealth, your career, your family, your health. God always works these things together for good when you, like Job, are called according to His purpose. Every good thing you have—or had—comes from the hand of God. So if you are separated from good things, fall to the ground in worship. Join with Job and say, “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.”

I SURRENDER

Dear God, I am weary. Circumstances have doused the flickering flame of hope I held for my future. The waves of what You have caused or allowed have swept over me. I confess I have accused You of wrongdoing. Forgive me. I confess that I have thought more about why You would let this happen to me than about how to properly respond. Forgive me. My tortured soul feels the anguish of a life that isn’t turning out as 1 planned. But I know that You give and You take away. Therefore I say, blessed is the name of the Lord. Amen.