Subject: Depression - Job 29-30

Job 29:2-5 (ESV Strong's)
“Oh, that I were as in the months of old,
as in the days when God watched over me,
when his lamp shone upon my head,
and by his light I walked through darkness,
as I was in my prime,
when the friendship of God was upon my tent,
when the Almighty was yet with me,
when my children were all around me,

Subject:   Remembering

In the above passage Job continues his discourse with this three friends.  He is in a state of depression about his life.  Note what he said in a previous chapter:

Job 27:2 (ESV Strong's)
“As God lives, who has taken away my right,
and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter,

He now, in this chapter, begins to reminisce about the past and about where his standing in life was full of blessing.   In this entire chapter he is full of memories of great times and fantastic days.   In the next chapter he moves into reality ... What it is like today ... His pain is overtaking him.   But, in this chapter he does a walk down memory lane.  There are numerous lessons to learn here, but two come to mind.  First, Job is encouraged by these memories.  And, he should be.  It is okay to remember the good days of the past.   We are often told in Scripture to "remember."    Note Psalm 42:4 as one example.   Having a great memory of the past is healthy and gives us some encouragement for the future.   We are to remember the good things that God brought into our lives and the blessings He bestowed upon us.   But, that brings us to the second lesion in this chapter:  Job doesn't mention that these blessings and good things were from God.   When we remember and forget God we don't do honor and worship to God.  Note what James tells us:

James 1:17 (ESV Strong's)
Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

If we have good things happening to us, or had them happen to us, it was a gift of God.   He sends the rain onto the just and the unjust.   Job begins down a good road (it will assist him in his depressed state) but makes it worse by not attributing the blessings in life to God (He has no problem attributing the pain in his life to God in the very next chapter).   Don't forget to remember, but also, don't forget to remember Who provided the good things and great memories.