Job 7:12-16 (ESV)
12 Am I the sea, or a sea monster,
that you set a guard over me?
13 When I say, ‘My bed will comfort me,
my couch will ease my complaint,’
14 then you scare me with dreams
and terrify me with visions,
15 so that I would choose strangling
and death rather than my bones.
16 I loathe my life; I would not live forever.
Leave me alone, for my days are a breath.
We probably have never meet someone in Job’s state ... at least not very often. In all the words being tossed about in the book, all the theology (and philosophy) being uttered, we probably don’t take much time to think of what Job felt physically. His body was in extreme pain and suffering. We can read the book of Job and get so caught up in the narrative that we forget this is story is about a man who has experienced extreme loss and is, as he speaks, in deep pain. We don’t know much about the medical industry back in Job’s day. We read nothing about a treatment for his pain, or a medicine for his suffering. Today, we can run to a pharmacy within miles of our homes and have a drug that alters the mind and numbs the pain. But, in the above passage we read by Job is actually experiencing.
He first compares himself to a monster of the sea that God has set boundaries for and limits upon. He wonders if he as been relegated to a mere animal in God’s eyes. He wonders who God won’t even let him sleep. When he tries to sleep he states that God sends dreams to torment even that brief respite from the pain. He even has a desire for his life to end. He wants it all to be over. It would be hard to imagine that and even worse to sit along side the road and witness it. That is what is happening with Job and his three friends. They are sitting along side the road watching Job scratch the boils off his body with broken pottery (chapter two). This is where the lack of empathy of his friends is so absurd. They want to correct Job’s theology as they ignore his suffering. There is nothing wrong with trying to help someone process their pain and suffering and difficulty. But, that should be done as we minister their physical needs. We tend to want to correct their thinking before we first meet their need for relief. You can present the Gospel to the homeless, of course. But, it might be wise to show them the Gospel by find them a home. We drive by and see the pain and maybe even pray. But, the truth of the matter is we fail them but not remembering they are in deep, deep pain in their lives. Yes, good theology will allow them to frame the pain and suffering better. But, at some point we have to help them stop scratching their boils with pottery. Find out why they are in pain, for sure. But, also help them with the situation of the pain.
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