Job’s Journey

Text: Various passages from Job

Introduction: In this fourth and final study of the life of Job, it is important to identify the stages of Job’s spiritual journey. There is no precise answer to the question of the purpose of intense suffering and loss. There is, however, the discovery that, although the journey begins with devastating losses, it ends with an amazing experience of the presence of God. There are glimpses of God in the dark wilderness of pointless dialogue with Job’s friends. Job breaks out one day with this exclamation: “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock with an iron pen and lead, forever! For I know that my Redeemer lives” (Job 19:23-25). But the fuller revelation of his experience of God’s character awaits Job in chapter 42. So the journey of Job begins. Do you identify with some of these stages in your own times of testing?

Stage One: Worship (Job 1:20-21)

“Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said;

                        ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb,

                        And naked shall I return there.

                        The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;

                        Blessed be the name of the Lord.’ ”

The first-time reader of the story of Job would not expect to read a testimony like this. They would understand his crying out and agonizing, but not his worship. Having lost my first wife to cancer at the age of 50, I did not worship. I asked, “Why?”

Stage Two: Depression and Fear (Job 3)
Job 3 reveals the humanness of this patriarch. The full impact of his losses overwhelmed him. He was so depressed that he wished he had never been born. He transparently shared his heart. We read, “The thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes” (Job 3:25-26).

Stage Three: Anger (Job 7:1-6,11-16 NASB)

“Is not man forced to labor on earth, and are not his days, like the days of a hired man? As a slave who pants for the shade, and as a hired man who eagerly waits for his wages, so am I allotted months of vanity, and nights of trouble are appointed me. When I lie down I say, ‘When shall I arise?’ But the night continues, and I am continually tossing until dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and a crust of dirt, my skin hardens and runs. My days are days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle, and come to an end without hope. . . . Therefore I will not restrain my mouth, I will speak in the anguish of my spirit, I will complain in the bitterness of my soul. ‘Am I the sea or the sea monster, that You set a guard over me? If I say, ‘My bed will comfort me, my couch will ease my complaint,’ then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me by visions; so that my soul would choose suffocation, death rather than my pains. I waste away; I will not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.”

These are the words of an angry man. It’s important for us to know that God can handle our anger. He could handle Job’s outburst, the tirade of Moses in Numbers 11, and the scolding of Mary and Martha when they felt Jesus was late. Our God is a patient God.

Stage Four: Demandingness (Job 23:1-7)
This passage has a courtroom setting. Unbelievably, God was in the dock and Job was making his case. He assembled his arguments, and he demanded an answer from God. But thankfully there is a stage five.

Stage Five: Repentance and the Presence of God (Job 42)

God had just given Job a science test. Job was speechless. He had been humbled and could only say: “I know that You can do everything, and that no purpose of Yours can be withheld from You. You asked, ‘Who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?’ Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. Listen, please, and let me speak: You said, ‘I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes” (vv.1-6).    

Job had discovered God to be Creator, Sustainer, and Provider in Job 38–41. Now he discovered that in our deepest pain in life, God is so much more:

• He is a God of grace. Four times He referred to Job as “My servant” (42:7-8).
• He is a God of justice. He confronted Job’s three friends for their faulty accusations against Job (42:7).
• He is a God of compassion. He encouraged Job to pray for those who mistreated him (42:8).
• He is a God of restoration (42:10).
• He is a God of forgiveness. He invited Job to eat with his family who had forsaken him in his hour of greatest need (42:11).
• He is a God of love. He gave Job a new life (42:12-17).

Conclusion: Larry Crabb wrote in his book Shattered Dreams, “The deepest pleasure we are capable of experiencing is a direct encounter with God. But we almost always mistake lesser pleasures for this greatest pleasure and live our lives chasing after them. We’re not in touch with our appetite for God. So the Holy Spirit awakens that appetite. He uses the pain of shattered dreams to help us discover our desire for God. Shattered dreams are not an accident of fate. They are ordained opportunities for the Spirit first to awaken, then to satisfy our highest dream.”

May our highest dream be to know Him.

One Response to “Job’s Journey”

1. pegramsdell says:

   May 26, 2009 at 10:49 am

   Very good. Thank you. Leaned a lot. I pray for a closer relationship with The Lord. Peg