When all is lost, there is nothing left.
This reduction of life takes place suddenly and severely in Job’s life. The ability to find the “Silver Lining” or “look on the bright side” utterly disappears. Your eyes and ears see nothing but darkness and you hear no word of hope from anyone. Job came to this empty wasteland in his life when his family and fortune were cruelly takin away from him. Life was so unfair at that point that there was nothing left for him to do but die. He wished for nothing more fervently.
What brings back the possibility that life is worth living again? And what does that life look like? How do you survive the rapid descent into the deep darkness and climb back to the surface when you seem to have lost all strength for the ascent?
I have counseled many people in a similar position to that of Job’s. None as bleak or as sad I would acknowledge but the same feelings of numbness and utter despair often exist for them as well. I try to teach them three things. It can get better, they must talk their way through their pain, and they have to go back to their purpose in life before their loss.
These three things happened to Job. He returned to His purpose to please God and raise a family, he had people to talk with and he came to see better days.
You do not forget the losses or the people you have lost. They will be with you in some way or another for the rest of your life. And you will struggle for some time not to feel devastated by the loss. Eventually, you can and will return to productive society again, even if that seems implausible.
The most successful at this are those that take the memories of their loved ones with them as they move into an uncertain future. You don’t leave them behind or forget them. They motivate you and inspire you as you replay the beauty and the power of their lives to make something out of themselves and face the world head-on in good times and bad.
Job’s greatest ally in this endeavor was God. I think only God Himself could guide Job after his terrible loss. And God was more than up to the task. God listened to Job, consoled Job, corrected Job, even called him out on occasion, humbling him in his self pity and grief. Come to think of it, I’m not sure I would want all that from God if I had a similar story. Upon further reflection, I would want Jesus as my counselor more than God. And then I remember, they are both God and I might just get quiet and listen to God for a while, remembering that He created me in the first place. He really does know what He is doing in other words.
Many of the chapters in the book of Job are this kind of strange conversation, this back and forth about the world and the universe and the mind and the wonder of it all. God teases out the most curious corners of Jobs mind and refuses to let him alone. In fact, Job grows less confident in others as He leans more heavily on God.
“One should be kind to a fainting friend, but you accuse me without any fear of the Almighty. My brothers, you have proved as unreliable as a seasonal brook that overflows its banks in the spring when it is swollen with ice and melting snow. But when the hot weather arrives, the water disappears. The brook vanishes in the heat.” Job 6:14-17
Job knows how his friends should act and they fail him. To be honest, this is not surprising. He starts to show more anger at this point with some of his anger about to be directed at God. In our next column, we’ll look at the question, “Is it good to be angry at God.” In the meantime, watch how God climbs into the pit with Job and leads him out over time. It is a good thing to be reminded that God is not a “Fair Weather” friend, but a Forever Friend.
