QT 4 Apr 16, Job 6, 7; When the pain doesn't look like it will ever end

Job 6:2–4 (RSV)

2 “O that my vexation were weighed,

and all my calamity laid in the balances!

3 For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea;

therefore my words have been rash.

4 For the arrows of the Almighty are in me;

my spirit drinks their poison;

the terrors of God are arrayed against me.

Job 6:8–9 (RSV)

8 “O that I might have my request,

and that God would grant my desire;

9 that it would please God to crush me,

that he would let loose his hand and cut me off!

Job 7:11 (RSV)

11 “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth;

I will speak in the anguish of my spirit;

I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.

NOTE: This is the part about Job that we like to ignore, his complaints and his bitterness with life's events. We assume it is wrong. We think that his earlier stoicism is the correct response to pain. It is uncomfortable for us to see real pain in the life of a spiritual giant. But here it is, raw and ugly and most importantly, real. Job is now expressing himself and his real emotions. And I think that is with purpose (from a storyteller's point of view). It is not wrong to struggle. It is not wrong to express your frustrations to God or in private to your friends. In my mind, the best course is a prayerful discussion with God, real and honest. Job's friends can't understand his pain. They do not know why it has happened and they guess wrong. They do him no good although spend much of the book trying to make an argument. God knows what he is doing. God knows why he initiated the discussion with Satan regarding Job. God knows why he continued the discussion after the first series of crushing events. God knows why he allowed Satan to attack Job a second time. And now Satan has disappeared. The story is left to six individuals, Job, his three friends, Elihu, and finally God, who knows the real reason. I think the length of the story hints at one of the most difficult parts of suffering and that is it seems endless. Job at this point just wants to die, unaware that there is still joy in the future.