Sores
This week is on Job 2:7-10:
As some of you may know, I've been in poor health for the last month. I believe God will heal me, and in the mean time I have a lot of time for prayer and reflection. I decided to read through the book of Job and these verses stood out to me.
Job is a good book. I have a friend who reads through it from time to time like it's the latest best seller. It's the story about a guy who God likes, who allows him to go through some horrible trials to prove how strong he is. Job weathers the storm and God is so proud of him that he gives him an even more rich blessing than he had before.
Job doesn't do a perfect job of it, like we would picture a Christian is supposed to. He's not all cheerful. He isn't all like "Thank you God may I have another" every time something happens. He's bitter and angry, disappointed, doubting, but he never curses and abandons God.
In these verses Job is afflicted with painful sores from his head to his feet. There is nothing good about painful sores. Nobody is going to be at peace with sores all over their body, even today. But in those days, skin diseases were something shameful. Not just awkward shame, like bad acne for a teenager, but shame like you could be banished from society for them.
Painful sores meant leprosy, or venereal disease, or some kind of contagious virus. People were quarantined when they broke out in sores. It was a huge deal, even above the huge deal of having painful sores all over your body. Ever had a cold sore, or bad blisters? Imagine that all over your body! And people condemning you for being immoral and dirty for having them!
Job sits in exile scraping himself. His wife mocks his faith and wants to be rid of him. He rebukes her for judging things based on appearance and emotion, and upholds God's supremacy in the whole thing. When something good happens, God is huge, but when something bad happens, does he shrink? The Bible says that Job didn't sin in anything he said.
But look at what he didn't say. He didn't pretend everything was great. He didn't pretend the sores were some great blessing in disguise. He just acknowledged that they are what they are and that God is ultimately in control. He still gave God the benefit of the doubt and allowed for the possibility that God would fix things. The sores were "trouble" but God was still every bit as much God as he always had been.
When we go through seasons of "trouble" ourselves, are we as honest as Job? Do we admit that things are currently not so great? Do we still acknowledge God's greatness? Or do we pretend everything is fine? Or worse, do we condemn God and turn our back on him? How deep is our commitment and how confident are we in God's loving character?
Are we only willing to accept good circumstances and not bad? Do we have some myth in our mind that bad circumstances are only the result of bad character and bad choices? Jesus got nailed to a cross! So did Peter! Did they mess up? Meanwhile God is still God and is still just. He still cherishes us. We are precious in his eyes.
Circumstances like Job's sores are a test of character and faith. They reveal who we are, for better or for worse. Job's wife failed the test but Job passed it. Let's try to be more like Job when bad circumstances come our way. It's worth it in the end.
So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
His wife said to him, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!”
He replied, “You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?”
In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.
As some of you may know, I've been in poor health for the last month. I believe God will heal me, and in the mean time I have a lot of time for prayer and reflection. I decided to read through the book of Job and these verses stood out to me.
Job is a good book. I have a friend who reads through it from time to time like it's the latest best seller. It's the story about a guy who God likes, who allows him to go through some horrible trials to prove how strong he is. Job weathers the storm and God is so proud of him that he gives him an even more rich blessing than he had before.
Job doesn't do a perfect job of it, like we would picture a Christian is supposed to. He's not all cheerful. He isn't all like "Thank you God may I have another" every time something happens. He's bitter and angry, disappointed, doubting, but he never curses and abandons God.
In these verses Job is afflicted with painful sores from his head to his feet. There is nothing good about painful sores. Nobody is going to be at peace with sores all over their body, even today. But in those days, skin diseases were something shameful. Not just awkward shame, like bad acne for a teenager, but shame like you could be banished from society for them.
Painful sores meant leprosy, or venereal disease, or some kind of contagious virus. People were quarantined when they broke out in sores. It was a huge deal, even above the huge deal of having painful sores all over your body. Ever had a cold sore, or bad blisters? Imagine that all over your body! And people condemning you for being immoral and dirty for having them!
Job sits in exile scraping himself. His wife mocks his faith and wants to be rid of him. He rebukes her for judging things based on appearance and emotion, and upholds God's supremacy in the whole thing. When something good happens, God is huge, but when something bad happens, does he shrink? The Bible says that Job didn't sin in anything he said.
But look at what he didn't say. He didn't pretend everything was great. He didn't pretend the sores were some great blessing in disguise. He just acknowledged that they are what they are and that God is ultimately in control. He still gave God the benefit of the doubt and allowed for the possibility that God would fix things. The sores were "trouble" but God was still every bit as much God as he always had been.
When we go through seasons of "trouble" ourselves, are we as honest as Job? Do we admit that things are currently not so great? Do we still acknowledge God's greatness? Or do we pretend everything is fine? Or worse, do we condemn God and turn our back on him? How deep is our commitment and how confident are we in God's loving character?
Are we only willing to accept good circumstances and not bad? Do we have some myth in our mind that bad circumstances are only the result of bad character and bad choices? Jesus got nailed to a cross! So did Peter! Did they mess up? Meanwhile God is still God and is still just. He still cherishes us. We are precious in his eyes.
Circumstances like Job's sores are a test of character and faith. They reveal who we are, for better or for worse. Job's wife failed the test but Job passed it. Let's try to be more like Job when bad circumstances come our way. It's worth it in the end.
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