Job 14:1 (ESV Strong's)
“Man who is born of a woman
is few of days and full of trouble.
Subject: Nature of Man
In this chapter, Job is continuing his response to his accusers, but he directs this chapter toward God. He is laying out his case to God of how fragile and futile his life is as compared to God and the rest of the world. In the first verse (above) we might agree that the theme of the entire chapter is stated in summary form. Job makes three observations: 1]. Man is born of a woman. That means man has a beginning. Man is not God, eternal, and therefore is born with limited. Man starts out like a flower (see the next verse) and then withers away. Our birth is the greatest and worse day of our lives. It is the day we start to live and it is the day we start to die. 2]. Man has few days to live. Man's days are number, Job will say later in this chapter (14:16). We need to approach life realizing every day is a gift, but it is a gift that has a termination date on it. When we are young we do not realize that. But, it is never-the-less true. We have little time and that time belongs to God, not us. We are to spend it honoring and glorifying Him. 3]. Our days are full of "trouble," Job states. Most of us don't want to think this way. It is, after all, a very pessimistic view of life. Yet, to deny this truth is to deny the very nature of man's life. We are in trouble. Job will go on in this chapter and talk about the sin and inquiry that is within us. The very truth of this phrase is why we know we need God's grace. God is the God of grace and it is He who rescues us from our trouble (see Psalm 18). to admit our days are full of trouble is not to live pessimistically; it is to come to the realization that we need grace and that changes our lives. We don't live in optimism by denying the trouble in life. We can only have hope when we have our HOPE in the God of HOPE. Job's confession is our redemption. The nature of Man needs the Grace of God.
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