6-16-14. Job 3:1-26. JOB LONGS FOR PEACE – my devotional

Job 3:1-26                                                                                                                6-16-14

Key Verse: 3:26                                                                                               Kevin E. Jesmer

“I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (NIV)

Dear Lord Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and your grace…basically thank you for your gospel. I pray that this Gospel may go out into all the world. Bless the Rochelle VBS. My Christ and the love of God be revealed to the young people there. I pray that you reveal your word to my heart today. I pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Part 1: Job Can’t Understand Why He Was Born (1-10)

      A thought journey seeking the meaning of suffering. Job couldn’t understand the reason for all of his suffering. He could find no meaning in it and he cursed the day of his birth. Look at Job Verses 1-10 read, “After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. 2 He said: 3 “May the day of my birth perish, and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’ 4 That day—may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine on it. 5 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm it. 6 That night—may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months. 7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it. 8 May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan. 9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn, 10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.” (NIV)

Job wanted a release from his suffering. It was so immense. It was bone crushing in nature. He longed for peace. He was also longing for answers as to why he had to suffer so much. His inner quest took him back to the time of his youth. His parents rejoiced at his birth, but he now wished he had been stillborn. He thought that a miscarriage in the past would have saved him from his present pain. He couldn’t understand why God would allow him to be born and live only to lead him to this point in his life, wracked with suffering.

Kids sometimes ask this question when they have experienced something unpleasant in life. Have you ever said, “I never asked to be born” or “why was I born anyway?” They forget that, the day before, they were enjoying life and having a fun time with their friends. But at the moment of their grief they feel like it would be better not even be alive.

Up to this point, Job might have enjoyed 60 years of abundant life, seeing his family and his wealth growing. He tasted great joy in life on so many levels. There were times that he thanked God for his life. His fatalistic words, now, were born out of his fatalism and despair, thinking that he was facing and long and drawn out, painful death. He lost hope and felt depressed. His circumstances birthed a long search for truth that we are blessed by 4,000 years later.

We should ask ourselves why were born. Would it be better if we had not even existed in the first place? Though we may feel this at times, I think that our lives are a gift from God and a blessing from the Lord. Our lives have brought joy and meaning to our parents and extended family. We have served our community in a multitude of ways. Our kids and our grandkids need us. Our presence is a comfort to them and a source of comfort, security and stability. Where we are, there is home and heritage. It sure is nice to know that my parents are at the same address and have the same phone number. We also can pass on wisdom to the next generation. We can make the block where we live, not just a row of houses, but a community and a neighborhood. Our lives are totally necessary and a blessing. We must never think that it would be better to not even be born.

Jesus once taught his disciples about the meaning of human suffering. His disciples saw a man who was born blind, sitting at the side of the road. They asked Jesus, “who sinned this man or his parents that he was born blind?” Thinking that physical suffering is equated with sin, they wondered what the reason was for this man’s blindness. Jesus straightened out their crooked thinking. He said to them, “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,…but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.” (John 9:3, niv) Jesus was saying that his suffering was not something to be despaired over. He should not curse the day of his birth. But he should see his present situation as an opportunity to display the work of God in his life. This brings new light as the meaning of our suffering in life. There is a reason for it, and it has to do with glorifying Jesus and the power of the Gospel and showing the love, grace and mercy of God to the world. I am nurse and I have seen many suffering people. But I can declare that those who hold onto their faith in Jesus, truly glorify the Lord in the midst of their strife. They leave a lasting impression on their families and the nursing staff. My prayer is that all those who suffer may reach out to Jesus and find hope and meaning in their suffering. They may also open their eyes to see that their lives have been a blessing to the rest of the world in so many ways that they can not even imagine.

Part 2:  Job’s Inner Quest For Answers and Peace  (11-26)

Verses 11-21, “11 Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? 12 Why were there knees to receive me  and breasts that I might be nursed? 13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest 14 with kings and rulers of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins, 15 with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver. 16 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day? 17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest. 18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout. 19 The small and the great are there, and the slaves are freed from their owners. 20 “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, 21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, 22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave? 23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in? 24 For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water. 25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. 26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” (NIV)”

Job poses four questions.

First,   “Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb? 12 Why were there     knees to receive me  and breasts that I might be nursed?” (11-12)

Second, “Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?”(16)

Third, “Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, 21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure, 22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?” (20-22)

Fourth, “Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?” (23)

Job shares some of his inner anguish in verses 24, “24 For sighing has become my daily food; my groans pour out like water.”   He thinks that if he had only died, he would be at rest with great and powerful people in this world, like kings and counselors. He thinks of others who have benefited from death. Death brings release to the captive and freedom to the slave. Job longs for death–he does not realize that death is not the end however. There is judgment and eternal life in the kingdom of God. He does not realize that God as a purpose for his life. He does not realize also that God has great plans for his future, to restore him.

Job is asking some fundamental questions about life and suffering. Why does God let those in misery continue to live? He does not have the answer, but he acknowledges God’s sovereignty in the matter in verse 23b by saying, “…whom God has hedged in?”  I think this is the key to overcome the emotional duress of suffering. We must somehow believe that there is a reason for it all in God. In God there is meaning and answers. In God there is strength and hope.

The whole reason of all of our searching in the midst of suffering can be found in Job 3.  Job suffered a lot. Much more than most of us have. His suffering set him on a course of seeking out answers. We can see the point of his inner quest in Job 3:25-26. It is finding peace and rest. Look at verses 25-26. “What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me. 26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil.” This is all of our quests. In one way or another, we are all searching for peace, quietness, rest and freedom from turmoil. That is why we want a place of rest. We go on vacations. We curl up with a good book. But in this life it is hard to find peace and rest, especially when we are faced with incredible losses and demise of health like Job.

But there is one place to find peace and rest and that place is in Jesus Christ. Jesus invites us all to find rest in him. Look at the words from Matthew 11:28-29 which read, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.” (NIV) It is true, Jesus gives true rest to our weary souls, through his grace…and through the power of the gospel. Those who long for peace and rest, should not long for death, rather they must long for Jesus, for Jesus can grant then the peace and rest that their souls long. We can enter into his rest through faith.

Prayer, “I don’t have the answers as to why we suffer, but I know that in you is hope, meaning and peace. I take rest in you through faith.”

One Word: Draw near to God and find strength, peace and rest.”