Job 27

“As God lives, who has taken away my right, and the Almighty, who has made my soul bitter, as long as my breath is in me, and the spirit of God is in my nostrils, my lips will not speak falsehood, and my tongue will not utter deceit.”

Job 27:2-4

Bold words, Job. You made a promise to not speak falsehood. You promised that you would not let your tongue say a lie. Is this a promise a human can make? Is this an actual thing? Yesterday, at church, I smiled and told my friends that I’m doing fine. Is that falsehood? I laughed when the jar of sauce shattered on the tile floor on Saturday, but I really felt like screaming or crying…or both. Is that deceit? Or maybe, taking a hard, honest look at my inner person here, maybe the entitled diva mindset I’ve been cultivating is a bold lie I’ve been telling myself? (Yes. The answer is yes.) Job, did you have trouble keeping this promise? I know I would.

I’ve been having a pity party over my own everyday, little difficulties. Someone close to me confronted me with an actual fact: “You sound bitter.” Yes. I FEEL bitter. Honestly? I’m mad. My little feelings are hurt, offended, put-out. Is this too honest for you, reader? Does it seem sinful for me to say it? To say – I’m mad at God? You know God already knows this. Me telling Him I’m mad isn’t a shock to Him. Job says he’s going to maintain his own integrity and his own innocence. He doesn’t feel any guilt over his behavior. in his own words, “…my heart does not reproach me for any of my days” (Job 27:6). I can’t say those words with Job. I know my attitude stinks like last week’s garbage. There is plenty of appropriate reproach for me.

I’ve been mad at God about stupid, little, trivial trials that are nothing, NOTHING, in the over-arching plan/scheme/existence of all things. But they are not “nothing” to me. To me these trials are shaping up to be a pattern between me and God. This road feels so familiar. To me these trials are full of meaning, and my belief in the sovereignty of God personalizes them all even more. The repetition of the trials places me square in the middle of some spiritual lesson that I keep failing. Or, perhaps this isn’t a spiritual lesson about me at all. Could these little, uncomfortable trials be in-the-field reminders of God’s goodness and grace in every circumstance? Has God “taken away my right,” as Job complains, or am I being reminded that my rights are in Christ only? And what are my rights in Christ?

“For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake…”

Philippians 1:29

The thing is…this suffering talked about in Philippians is not the trivial, temporary trials I’m experiencing at the moment. Nope. This suffering is Christ focused – hatred and persecution because we belong to Jesus. The “suffering” I’m experiencing is called life. These are the common experiences of humans around the globe. Stupid things happen, sometimes because God is doing a work in and around me. And, sometimes because I made stupid choices. So, let’s be clear here: we (I mean me…of course) are not exempt from pain, tragedy, calamity, sorrow, or chaos in our lives. We are not exempt, and…but, we are also not defeated by these things. We are transformed. God has not taken away our rights or bitterly afflicted us. He is working in us to make us more like Jesus, who has suffered on our behalf. Lord, let me say with Paul and so many others…

“But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith – that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

Philippians 3:7-11

That I may know Him! This is the one necessary thing in my life. All the petty struggles – even the big things that have weighed so heavily on me these past couple of weeks – these are nothing compared to knowing Jesus. And a funny thing happens when I focus my attention on Jesus, taking it off of my own discomfort or stress – the trials and stress of this earth diminish in power and impact. They fade away as Jesus shines brighter in my eyes. God make this so. Root out the bitterness I collect on my journey – the stones I pick up in my shoes along the way. Teach me again to train my eyes on Jesus, His cross, His resurrection, His love, His beautiful glory. This is the necessary attitude adjustment my heart needs.

The second part of Job 27 is Job’s explanation of what God will do to the wicked. He doesn’t count himself among them. His suffering is not the same as theirs will be. Look ahead, in chapter twenty-eight, where Job will detail the search for wisdom. Job’s attitude adjustment is coming soon. Before long, he will glimpse the glory of God and understand the limit of his own feeble knowledge.