WHAT did Job (pronounced JOBE) by the purest of faith, know - KNOW - that will help us? Come with me in a series of posts that should lift up even - well- you. Be about 7 or so sessions...look For "WHAT did Job...know:" in the subject line and my hope is that you'll find this brief time together uplifting...away we go...
Chapter 16 - Book of Job, Old Testament Hebrew...
"18 O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place. 19 Even now, behold, my witness is in heaven, and he who testifies for me is on high. 20 My friends scorn me; my eye pours out tears to God, 21 that he would argue the case of a man with God, as a son of man does with his neighbor. 22 For when a few years have come I shall go the way from which I shall not return"
First Question, do you believe God answers prayers? Look again at verse 18..."let my cry find no resting place." Is this saying found somewhere else on earth about the same time as Job? In what would become the U.S. local tribes had similar conceptualizations, believing that life had a circular enlarging progression, so they placed you in the middle of a prayer circle that they would lift up to their deity who resided in the great "Up there," because they instinctively knew- we can't possibly be it- we're a mess?
In South America tribes making use of ancient ideas believed that it was possible to construct pyramid type structures, which interestingly - you will find in Spain, Egypt, Cambodia, Mexico- in other words, all over the planet, at approximately the same setting in time, here these structures would be- what they may testify to - may be enlightenment, arriving at engineering concepts through math, we really don't know- but what we do know is, they were tied in every instance to a process of belief in something larger than man. Incidentally they likely were constructed at a time very similar to the one Job lived in.
Ancient thoughts these, from a man who suffered, so that the idea becomes one of suffering tied into reaching up, reaching out, finding some sort of solace in being able to cry out. When was the last time you really cried out?
If we stopped at verse 18 of chapter 16 which is Job answering his friends inquiries as to why all the bad that had befallen him, had- if we stopped there, we'd have enough to know that we should consider that crying out, crying up, can be and is very healing- it's probably a reason Job considered it worth noting as he told his story.
What's your story- is it one of only pain, or, are there some victories in it? Every person I know, without regard to their height of success, the amount of material blessing they have, or the utter dire circumstance they find themselves in, every single person has pain. Even young people, suffer pain from so many sources - many times, rejection because they are so fragile in what they see of their own image and importance. Pain that is physical, pain that is emotional, pain that is constant, pain that is like thundering lightning hitting you, pain that is in the head, like mine usually is, as a headache, or pain that is in a part of your body otherwise. Pain that is imagined as fear makes you doubt a future, pain that is real, when the future becomes even more ugly than you wanted. Pain is a constant reminder that we aren't the final result, something else is part of where you are, and the pain points to that.
What if Job weren't just thinking about Job- have you ever said or written something that you wanted the other person to know about- and consider, for their own good? Ah yes, that's the truth of the setting, Job was responding to the friends, and he most likely wanted them to "Get it," he hurt- we all hurt, but that isn't the end of it- "18 O earth, cover not my blood, and let my cry find no resting place." Please take a little time today to consider how magnificent you are, please understand that in you is a capacity to do, to think, to become, to change, and to not give in, to the pain- but instead to let your cry find no resting place.
