LOSING SIGHT OF THE BIG PICTURE

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In Christ, Mark

The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. He said:

“May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

“Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed? For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners.

“Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Job 3:1-26

This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It had been seven days and seven nights. Job sat in misery and suffering, joined by his friends Eliphaz, Temanite, and Bildad who had come to his side for support. There was silence as neither Job nor his friends said a word. This is the scene as we left Chapter 2.

As Chapter 3 opens, Job speaks and he has had enough as he delivers a lengthy diatribe, questioning why he was even born. I’m sure he hasn’t been alone in his feelings as there have been and are today thousands upon thousands of people in the world…maybe millions upon millions…who have experienced extreme hardship, despair and depression. They may have even thought the same thoughts or spoke similar words to what Job said in this chapter.

Job starts by wishing his birthday would just be wiped out…that the day would lose its significance going as far to wish that even God wouldn’t care about it. The joy that had to be present when Job was born into his parent’s arms should be replaced by darkness and gloom in Job’s view.

Job then starts to wish he would have just died at birth. Being abandoned or stillborn would have been better than the suffering he was in now. Had he not made it to this point in the first place, he would have been better off…at peace and rest…set free from the kind of suffering he was experiencing just as a slave would be free from their owner. An early death would have liberated Job from his current suffering. And indeed his suffering was becoming more than he could bear.

For we read where his affliction was beginning to consume him, just as it would probably consume anyone who was in the same situation. Job shares that “sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” And we get a sense that he yearned to just die in his current condition as he wondered why light would be given to those in misery…why life would be granted to the bitter of soul “who long for death that does not come”, feeling that the grave would fill them with gladness and rejoicing.

Indeed, pain, suffering, hardship, heartbreak, and grief can grow to levels that can lead someone to feel as Job felt. That’s why this book is so important to the Bible. Often times, people don’t feel the scriptures relate to their lives. This is because they haven’t read the scriptures which are full of people just like us who went through problems just like we do. It’s completely relative...but it’s far more than that. For the word of God always shows us how God is at work in the lives of those He created...those He loves and cherishes so very much. We consistently see how the light of the Lord pierces through the darkest moments in life and delivers hope to the hopeless. We can’t ever lose sight of this.

We also can’t lose sight of the sum experience of life when we’re viewing it. Job was so consumed by his present suffering a week in that he had lost sight of how very blessed he had been the rest of the time. We have no indication that Job had experienced any hardship in his life prior to the tragedies that befell him. Everything we read about his life points to him being richly blessed with an abundance of livestock and a wonderful family. He was well respected as a man of God, blameless and upright. His years of plenty exponentially exceeded his time in affliction.

And yet despite this, Job wishes he had never been born?

Friends, it’s easy to lose sight of the big picture of our lives. I was taught many, many years ago to count my blessings and when I finished, start counting over again. What I have learned is that when you continue to do this, keeping an account of God’s goodness, mercy and grace, you keep life in the right perspective. As Christians, we should never be deceived into thinking we will never suffer in life. It’s part of the Christian experience. For as we walk each day trying to emulate our Savior, it’s inevitable that just as will feel his joys so too will we feel a sense of His suffering…and I say a sense of His suffering because none of us will suffer as much as He did as He gave His life for our sins. We should remember the depth of His pain when we’re assessing the depth of our own. That’s also a part of being mindful of the big picture.

Job was consumed by his suffering. We can read it in his words. If we lose sight of the big picture of life and lose account for the abundant blessings God has bestowed upon us, we can end up just like him, in the depths of despair and depression. My prayer is that we ever keep our eyes on the Father, no matter what our life circumstances, and in doing so, keep our eyes on the big picture.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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