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In Christ, Mark
The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
Then Job replied:
“If only my anguish could be weighed and all my misery be placed on the scales! It would surely outweigh the sand of the seas—no wonder my words have been impetuous. The arrows of the Almighty are in me, my spirit drinks in their poison; God’s terrors are marshaled against me. Does a wild donkey bray when it has grass, or an ox bellow when it has fodder? Is tasteless food eaten without salt, or is there flavor in the sap of the mallow? I refuse to touch it; such food makes me ill.”
“Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation — my joy in unrelenting pain — that I had not denied the words of the Holy One.”
“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?”
“Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty. But my brothers are as undependable as intermittent streams, as the streams that overflow when darkened by thawing ice and swollen with melting snow, but that stop flowing in the dry season, and in the heat vanish from their channels. Caravans turn aside from their routes; they go off into the wasteland and perish. The caravans of Tema look for water, the traveling merchants of Sheba look in hope. They are distressed, because they had been confident; they arrive there, only to be disappointed. Now you too have proved to be of no help; you see something dreadful and are afraid. Have I ever said, ‘Give something on my behalf, pay a ransom for me from your wealth, deliver me from the hand of the enemy, rescue me from the clutches of the ruthless’?”
“Teach me, and I will be quiet; show me where I have been wrong. How painful are honest words! But what do your arguments prove? Do you mean to correct what I say, and treat my desperate words as wind? You would even cast lots for the fatherless and barter away your friend.”
“But now be so kind as to look at me. Would I lie to your face? Relent, do not be unjust; reconsider, for my integrity is at stake. Is there any wickedness on my lips? Can my mouth not discern malice?”
“Do not mortals have hard service on earth? Are not their days like those of hired laborers? Like a slave longing for the evening shadows, or a hired laborer waiting to be paid, so I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering.”
“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.”
“Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. Am I the sea, or the monster of the deep, that you put me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”
“What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Job 6:1-30, 7:1-21
This ends this reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.
In Chapters 4 and 5, Job’s friend, Oliphaz, attempted to change his attitude regarding the hardships he had gone through, reminding Job that although God judged and often afflicted, He also pardoned and restored. We know Job had been a faithful servant of God before his life was changed drastically through loss and affliction. But now in the midst of his suffering, something had changed in Job. He had been overcome by bitterness.
For in Chapters 6 and 7, we read where Job speaks after hearing his friend’s words and continues to deliver complaint, not just against God but against his friends as well. Bitterness can do this to us. It can cause us to lash out at those who may care about us the most. Job felt that he had been poisoned by “the arrows of the Almighty”, speaking about the sores that now covered him from head to toe. He had it half right. He was poisoned…not by arrows shot by God but rather by his bitter spirit that raged against anyone who was in earshot.
The easy thing to do in looking at Job’s situation is to bash him for his attitude. But Job was human. How would you and I react if we had gone through the same loss and illness? We probably wouldn’t be in the best of spirits either. But we must look at Job’s case and learn from it…learn from it so we might be better equipped to deal with immense hardship if we ever have to.
Let’s look specifically at what bitterness did to Job.
First, it brought on misery and anguish….misery and anguish that weighed heavy on Job’s heart and mind. How heavy? Job said that if it were “placed on the scales” it would “outweigh the sands of the seas.” Indeed, Job was heavy burdened. If only he had laid his burdens down at the very God he was questioning. He could have found relief and a peace that transcends understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).
Second, bitterness sapped Job’s desire for life. We had read prior in Chapter 3 where Job cursed the very day he was born. He continued to wish he would die in the verses of Chapter 6 saying, “Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant what I hope for, that God would be willing to crush me, to let loose his hand and cut off my life! Then I would still have this consolation — my joy in unrelenting pain — that I had not denied the words of the Holy One…I prefer strangling and death, rather than this body of mine. I despise my life; I would not live forever. Let me alone; my days have no meaning.”
Despair and depression can be extremely dangerous as underscored by the high rates of suicide we see today. Life to those in the midst of these emotions can seem worthless. Bitter resentment of life itself cancels out the worth of it and this is exactly what happened to Job.
Third, bitterness will weaken us and dampen our hope. Job asked, “What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects, that I should be patient? Do I have the strength of stone? Is my flesh bronze? Do I have any power to help myself, now that success has been driven from me?...My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and they come to an end without hope. Remember, O God, that my life is but a breath; my eyes will never see happiness again. The eye that now sees me will see me no longer; you will look for me, but I will be no more. As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so one who goes down to the grave does not return. He will never come to his house again; his place will know him no more.”
Indeed, hardship will wear a person out and when we’re down and out…unable to see light in our darkness…then hope begins to vanish. We realize in a hurry when we go through trials that we don’t have the strength to make it on our own. This is all the more reason why we need God in our lives.
Job was right. He didn’t have the strength to endure what he was going through. His wrong came in rejecting vice reaching out to the God who could grant him the strength and patience to endure.
Fourth, bitterness makes you turn on people who care about you. In Job’s case, he chose to lash out at his friends who had traveled a distance to be with him. Job referred to his friends as brothers and in return for their caring about him and making the trip to be by his side, he referred to them as “undependable as intermittent streams” and bluntly told them they “proved to be of no help” to him. He then insulted them by saying they would even “cast lots for the fatherless and barter away (their) friend”, referring of course to himself.
Often, the people closest to a person suffering are the ones who take the brunt of that person’s bitterness. I’ve seen it first hand on several occasions in my own family. If you’re on the receiving end of bitterness, love and understand the person who is suffering. It’s what God would expect us to do. If we don’t, we might just find that we too get poisoned by bitterness and become bitter toward the one who showed it to us. You see, bitterness can spread.
Fifth, bitterness brings on a spirit of complaining. Job vented about his affliction saying, “…I have been allotted months of futility, and nights of misery have been assigned to me. When I lie down I think, ‘How long before I get up?’ The night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. My body is clothed with worms and scabs, my skin is broken and festering… When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, even then you frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions…Therefore I will not keep silent; I will speak out in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”
We can all get caught us in the matter of complaining about our lives. It’s easy to do. But when we persistently do it, then we move ourselves toward begrudging life instead of seeing it as a rich blessing. I have tried to remember that any hardship I am going through is minor compared to the suffering that a fellow man or woman might be going through at the same exact moment. In the midst of our circumstances, it’s hard to look outside of ourselves. But if we can keep the right world view and give ourselves a reality check, we can often see where we are still blessed, although afflicted. It’s the attitude God would want for us to have.
Finally, bitterness can take a person to a place where they even lash out at God. Job had no problem going there saying:
“What is mankind that you make so much of them, that you give them so much attention, that you examine them every morning and test them every moment? Will you never look away from me, or let me alone even for an instant? If I have sinned, what have I done to you, you who see everything we do? Why have you made me your target? Have I become a burden to you? Why do you not pardon my offenses and forgive my sins? For I will soon lie down in the dust; you will search for me, but I will be no more.”
Job seemed to not want to believe he would ever be judged by God. Was he that self righteous? It’s possible. Or maybe bitterness poisoned Job to the point where he would even question the very God who could heal him, rescue him, and restore him. Friends, we might turn from our friends, we might turn away from ourselves, but we should never ever turn away from God. This is why we need to recognize the danger of bitterness and turn from it when it starts. Nothing good will ever come from it if we allow it to take root in our hearts and minds.
Amen.
In Christ,
Mark
PS: Please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
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