October 25, 2009 - Part 2

Job 42:1-6, 10-17

If you didn’t have a chance to read the background on Job in last week’s posting, you might want to read it through, to give you an idea of the story and the depth of Job’s struggles with God.

This week’s passage is Job’s response to God, after God’s defense has been offered:

Then Job answered the Lord; I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
“Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?”
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you declare to me.
I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

If you watch curling on TV, you know what the TSN Turning Point is: the point at which momentum changes and the probability of victory becomes clear. This passage is Job’s Turning Point. In the midst of all the arguments from his friends, in the midst of all Job’s denials, in the midst of God’s answer rising out of darkness, it all comes clear right here. Contemporary process would call it a “paradigm shift”.

It is sometimes hard to know who is speaking – initially Job, who quotes God, then confesses his ignorance. So, then why would Job go on to say that he will speak? More likely it is God’s voice who invites Job to “Hear, and I will speak;”

Job’s story reminds us of the reality of human loss; the breakdown of a simplistic theology that says if you are good, only good things will happen to you, so if bad things come, you must have done something wrong. Throughout it all, Job has trusted his heart, though he questions all human logic, he maintains his trust somehow God will respond. Finally, in the thick of the storm that is his life, Job hears God’s voice, and his eye acknowledges God’s reality. Job is pushed beyond all his expectations and welcomed into a new relationship with God. When he emerges, his perspective on all life is changed, and even his daughters receive a share of his blessing!

Job is one of the scripture stories that gets all done up with a happy ending, but somehow it seems superficial, tacked on to gloss over the real struggle for faith. Hope is already in the works, even in the midst of Job’s suffering, but it still hurts. Job’s repentance at the end of the passage is really an acknowledgement of where he stands in relation to God, not an admission of past sin.

Questions for reflection:

What small signs of hope along the way have kept you engaged in your relationship with God, even long before a “happy ending”?

Have you ever had a moment where you have felt like you encountered God? How did that change you?