Seeing the person… a real person.
Oh, for every day to be better than the one before… a continuous path where we live as we should and life is always without struggle, worry, or pain. However, this is not an accurate description of real life on Earth. Just as depicted in the Book of Job, we have an enemy who seeks to pull us away from God (See Job 1:11 KJV). Over the past couple of weeks, as I have delved into studying Job, I have been struck so deeply by a passage that I have stopped and had to take time to really absorb and wrap my mind around the message weighing on me. Today, I want to share the first important point that I paused to reflect on: Job was human, a real person who, at one point in time, lived on this earth as you and I do now. I know one might wonder as to why I stopped to reflect on this point, which seems quite obvious. If a book of the Bible was written about him, of course, Job was a real person. But as I read, a few verses stood out that really allowed me to make a personal connection… to go beyond reading about a character or a historical figure, erase the time barrier, and encounter a person who experiences the same feelings, emotions, and worries that make us human.
In the very first verse of the book, we are given an image of a faithful and devout man who followed God in all that he did. Job 1:1 clearly states, “There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and eschewed evil” (KJV). It seems important to underline the word ‘man’. He was good and faithful to God. He feared God and tried his best to do right. Yet, he was a man. And the only sinless person to have ever walked the earth was Jesus.
Next, in addition to being a man, Job was a parent. He was a father concerned for his children and their relationship with God. In reading Job 1:5, I couldn’t help but think of how many parents pray for the salvation of their children. Job’s sincere concern for his children’s walk with God is expressed as Job 1:5 states, “And it was so, when the days of feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and cursed God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually” (KJV).
Finally, for those of us who have ever suffered from anxious thoughts and worry, it seems to me that as a human, Job was not free from anxiety. In Job 3:25, Job says, “For the thing which I greatly feared is come upon me, and that which I was afraid of is come unto me” (KJV). As faithful and upright as Job was, this verse tells me that he had those worrisome thoughts… worries and fears of those ‘what if’ scenarios that I could connect and relate to. And, with that thought, I bounce back to my opening paragraph where I noted the enemy with the ultimate goal to pull us away from God. And wasn’t that Satan’s ploy in Job’s life? In essence, Satan insisted that if all of Job’s blessings were gone, Job would turn away from God. In Job 1:10, Satan predicts, “…and he will curse thee to thy face” (KJV). However, Job, in all his suffering, never gave his enemy that satisfaction. Job declares in chapter 13, verse 15, “Though he slay me, yet I will trust Him…,” and stands strong in that declaration as he states in Job 23:10-11, “But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold. My foot hath held His steps, His way have I kept, and not declined” (KJV). Moreover, Job did not even know that Satan was the one causing his problems, which means that Job remaining faithful to God in the midst of all his suffering was not to keep Satan from satisfaction but because Job had a sincere love for God. Job was fully committed to living his life for God, no matter what.
