“Not giving up hope”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Friday, September 6, 2024
Job 19: 1-7, 14-27 (Forward, p. 39) CEV p. 537
I find Job to be quite an inspiration, quite a source of hope, for even though he is convinced, wrongly in this case, that God is against him, he still does not give up hope. He still believes that God is there for him and will answer him.
Just listen then, at the onset, to what he has to say about God: “Know then that God has put me in the wrong, and closed his net around me. Even when I cry out, ‘Violence!' I am not answered; I call aloud, but there is no justice. He has walled up my way so that I cannot pass, and he has set darkness upon my paths. He has stripped my glory from me, and taken the crown from my head. He breaks me down on every side, and I am gone, he has uprooted my hope like a tree. He has kindled his wrath against me, and counts me as his adversary” (verses 6-11). And so on: he continues in this same vein for quite a few more verses.
But even so, this is not the last word that we hear from Job. Firstly, he pleads with God for a hearing: “O that my words were written down! O that they were inscribed in a book! O that with an iron pen and with lead they were engraved on a rock forever!” (verses 23-24).
However, that is not all. Merely having his words recorded is not enough for Job. He desires, and expects, a face-to-face hearing with God, and is certain that this will happen, even if is only beyond the grave, that is, after he dies:
“For I know that my Redeemer (variously translated as vindicator, saviour or defender) lives, and that at the last he will stand upon the earth; and after my skin has been thus destroyed, then in my flesh (or, without my flesh) I shall see God, whom I shall see on my side (see for myself), and my eyes shall behold, and not another!” (verses 25-27a).
O, what a hope in the resurrection, and for an eventual doing of justice, and O, what a confidence in the goodness and mercy of Almighty God. Even though Job has suffered unspeakable calamities, all of which he blames on God, he has not given up on God. He has not given up hope. What an inspiration this is for each and all of us. Thanks be to God.
Forward notes: “And even if it is true that I have erred, my error remains with me” (verse 4).
“I have not known the depths of reproach that Job experienced. But have I scorned another? Definitely. It is easy to react to Job’s trials through his lens, that of the victim. But taking the role of one of his accusing friends may be an Ignatian exercise worth exploring.
“Imagine yourself in the scene. A good friend loses everything. Her business folds, her children won’t speak to her, and business associates distance themselves from her. ‘What happened?’ You might ask with an incredulous tone. And though you dare not say it aloud, ‘What did you do?’ would be the natural question to follow.
“It’s difficult to consider misfortune, calamity, or disaster happening for no reason. Human nature demands an answer to the ‘why.’ We want a reason that holds up scientifically, legally, or academically. We see in the story of Job that God’s purpose will be fulfilled by any means, through any person God sees fit. That may even be through me if I can only remember to surrender my reason and opinion to the goodness of God.”
Moving Forward: “How can you keep an open mind to the ways God might be working in your life and the lives of others?”