Job Continues: Life Seems Futile
“Is not man consigned to labor on earth? Are not his days like those of a hired hand? Like a slave he longs for shade; like a hired hand he waits for his wages. So I am allotted months of futility, and nights of misery are appointed me. When I lie down I think: ‘When will I get up?’ But the night drags on, and I toss and turn until dawn. My flesh is clothed with worms and encrusted with dirt; my skin is cracked and festering.
My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope. Remember that my life is but a breath. My eyes will never again see happiness. The eye that beholds me will no longer see me. You will look for me, but I will be no more. As a cloud vanishes and is gone, so he who goes down to Sheol does not come back up.
He never returns to his house; his place remembers him no more. 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 monster of the deep, that You must keep me under guard? When I think my bed will comfort me and my couch will ease my complaint, then You frighten me with dreams and terrify me with visions, so that I would prefer strangling and death over my life in this body. I loathe my life! I would not live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
What is man that You should exalt him, that You should set Your heart upon him, that You attend to him every morning, and test him every moment? Will You never look away from me, or leave me alone to swallow my spittle? If I have sinned, what have I done to You, O watcher of mankind? Why have You made me Your target, so that I am a burden to You? Why do You not pardon my transgression and take away my iniquity? For soon I will lie down in the dust; You will seek me, but I will be no more.”
To say Job is in despair would be an understatement. Job’s miseries continue to multiply. Flies have laid eggs in the wounds and now the maggots are hatching and squirming all over Job, making the itching far worse. EWWW! The nights seem endless, fraught with nightmares and horrifying visions, probably because Job is running fevers from his infected sores. Job feels that all he has to look forward to are “months of futility and nights of misery.”
Job has lost all hope and feels that strangling and death are preferable to his current suffering. Job believes that he must have sinned against God so that God has made him a target. Job is begging God for forgiveness and death as a quick way out of his suffering.
APPLICATION: Job’s descriptions of the depths of his despair are classic and well worth studying. Although there are those who never suffer through depression, many people find themselves identifying with Job. We are Facebook friends with two families whose sons have horrible medical problems. These poor little kids lurch from one crisis to the next, while their families continue to struggle to maintain any modicum of normalcy for the sick kids and for their well siblings.
Families who suffer through major medical problems with a child are at high risk for fragmentation. Parents find themselves emotionally and financially drained. Well siblings feel neglected. If the children recover from their medical problems, parents may find themselves favoring those children over their healthy siblings in attempts to compensate for the suffering the sick children have endured. Sometimes there is no money for things the healthy siblings need because medical bills and travel have consumed it all. Sometimes marriages fail over such problems. One spouse remains the advocate for the sick child while the other spouse is trying vainly to maintain the rest of the family. Spouses under such stress can find themselves at such a distance from each other that the gulf appears impossible to bridge.
While the same thing can also happen when adults develop medical problems, the stress of a child’s illness seems to bring particular challenges. For those of us who are not embroiled in such suffering, the problem we face is this: how best can we help support families such as these? If possible, we can discuss the situation with the parents. Perhaps we can help with the healthy siblings by transporting them to their normal activities, thus freeing their parents from that burden. Perhaps we can spend time in the hospital with the sick child so that parents can get a break, do some shopping, or even just get some much – needed sleep. Perhaps we can help financially-buy that band uniform, get that equipment for an activity. But what is NOT helpful is asking parents; many times parents are so exhausted that they can’t think of anything apart from the current crisis. May God help us so that we can come along side those who are struggling to help them!
Prayer: Father God, thank You for loving us and for caring for us. Lord, help us to be sensitive to the needs of others, particularly families facing disastrous medical problems. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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