Job CCXXVI

 Job 21:4-8, “As for me, is my complaint against man? And if it were, why should I not be impatient? Look at me and be astonished; put your hand over your mouth. Even when I remember I am terrified, and trembling takes hold of my flesh. Why do the wicked live and become old, yes, become mighty in power? Their descendants are established with them in their sight, and their offspring before their eyes.”

You’re attacking me, and I’m beseeching, entreating, pleading with, and crying out to God. The two are not the same. You accuse me of things I haven’t done, and I plead my innocence. The two are not the same. You conspire to shake my faith, to make me give up, to curse God and die, and conclude that I am deserving of my lot. I cry out to God, asking that He reveal my error to me if there is error, that He reveal my wickedness to me if there is wickedness, and I will repent of it. The two are not the same.

Job didn’t threaten to sue for defamation; he didn’t pull out a stack of NDAs and insist that his friends sign them; he didn’t try to create a straw man or point to others in similar situations, thereby justifying his own actions. He was an innocent man who pleaded with God in the presence of his friends, and not with his friends in the presence of God.

If there was any doubt, Job made it clear: as for me, is my complaint against man? Obviously not, because what could any man do to ease my suffering, or remedy my situation? What could any man do to take away the pain or inject some hope into my weary soul?

Job knew that if there was any hope, it was found in God. His friends had become burdensome, cumbersome, a noisy nuisance that he felt obliged to answer, but as far as hoping they had some means of rectifying his situation, there was none to be found.

Few in the history of mankind have found themselves in a situation as dire as Job’s. I can’t think of one offhand, but there must have been at least a handful that came close. Conversely, we’ve all had varying degrees of hardship, of seemingly impossible situations, or valleys and rocky roads that seemed to never end, and in those moments, we choose to run to God or to men.

Perhaps it’s thinking that the problem isn’t big enough to bother God with, so we will try to rectify it on our own, only to discover we’ve made it worse than we could have imagined. Perhaps it’s hoping we can prove to God that we can manage without His intervention. Maybe we’re just stubborn and stiff-necked, but whatever the reason may be that we don’t run to God first, in the end, we live to regret it.

The best man can offer, whether friends, brothers, sisters, or family, however well-meaning and well-intentioned, is what amounts to a temporary fix. God is the only one who can offer permanent solutions.

It’s the difference between discovering you have a flat tire, putting air in it, only to discover it’s flat again come the morning, and getting a new tire, without a puncture that will hold air for months if not years to come.

I’ve lived long enough to see the folly of trusting men to solve issues God could readily remedy. I’ve also seen the danger of impatience when it comes to not waiting on the Lord to do it, and striking out on one’s own, thinking we know better. Job knew enough to know that men would not have a hand in his restoration if there were any to be had. He knew that trying to appease his friends was likewise a nonstarter.

All he had left was God, and God was more than enough. This is a good reminder and a teachable moment for everyone, including myself. God is sufficient, no matter your trial or situation. He is enough. Even in your most desperate moments and your darkest season, God is all you need. Run to Him! Not after you’ve exhausted every avenue, not when there’s nothing left to cling to, but first, every time, without fail, and your faith will grow and mature with every iteration of seeing that your trust was not misplaced, and that He did not fail you.

Job’s complaint was not against man, but if it had been, he would have been within his rights to be impatient. Job knew that man cannot see as God sees, man cannot hear as God hears, and man cannot intervene as God can, and his first salvo seems a bit tongue-in-cheek.

If my words were targeted toward you, by now I would be within my rights to be impatient given that I’ve seen nothing by way of resolution, but fear not, my friends, I know the extent of your impotence and inability to affect my current lot, and so it’s not you I’m pleading with, it’s with the God whom I know can do what you cannot.

Were my hope tethered in you, I would be a man bereft, watching the ashes of my life slip through my fingers, adrift in an ocean of pain and hopelessness, with no shoreline in sight, or hope for redress.

But, even as I am, broken, shattered, and stripped of everything, including my own dignity, I cling to the One who knew me before He formed me in my mother’s womb, who counts the hairs on my head, who sees me as I am, and I will trust Him still.

Though He slay me, yet I will trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him. If that sounds familiar, Job spoke those words some eight chapters back. His position had not shifted. He had not given up addressing God, nor had he shifted his focus from what God saw in him to what his friends thought of him. He remained consistent, knowing that how God sees us is the only thing that matters. Does God view you as a son or daughter? Does God count you as His own? If so, it matters not what the world, your family, your friends, or anyone else thinks of you. Strive to be pleasing in the sight of the Lord and not praised by the forked tongues of the world, and you will always have God on your side, no matter the situation.

With love in Christ,

Michael Boldea, Jr.