Job 15:11–13 (NRSV)
11 Are the consolations of God too small
for you,
or
the word that deals gently with you?
12 Why does your heart carry you away,
and
why do your eyes flash,
13 so that you turn your spirit against
God,
and
let such words go out of your mouth?
NOTE: Eliphaz now
criticizes Job for abandoning his stoicism. This is the typical Christian
reaction to a person who is struggling in his or her suffering. We exalt
stoicism and attack raw emotion. Having been there and seen both sides, and
lived both sides, I am now of the opinion that stoicism is a lie. I would much
rather see a person honest with God with his emotions. After all, one cannot
hide anything from God. The problem is that we try to hide from ourselves, at
least when I practiced stoicism, that is what I later saw I was doing. I
struggled with the ups and downs during our long period of suffering, and my
only goal was to see stability in my life. I thought I would give up the highs
if I could be assured the lows would not happen. But, I think we stop living
when we stop experiencing the joys and sadness of life. And after a while, I
embraced the joy and I suffered through the pain with true tears. And in the
end, I felt so much better and so much alive as compared to when I tried to
hide the pain by saying, "God is in charge, I have faith." Those
words are true, but they are not the emotions that I felt.
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