The Patience of Job

“In your patience possess ye your souls.”

Luke 21:19

Easier to say that than it is to live that scripture, isn’t it? “They” may say patience is a virtue, but, more often than not, our response is more like the lyrics from the famous Queen song:

“I want it all…I want it all…I want it all… and I want it now.”

And, as is if that wasn’t complicated enough, people often describe someone who has a handle on their emotions and feelings as possessing the “patience of Job.”

And isn’t that irritating? Perhaps you are one of those patient types, never getting your feathers ruffled. But as for me? Quite often, feathers-a- ruffled.

A better sounding description, however, might be a work in progress. And boy, is it ever a lot of work!

But I must admit, there is something to Job. Familiar with him? He was a righteous and prosperous man; because of that, Satan approached God about him, suggesting Job only worshipped God because he had this cushy life. Furthermore, the devil challenged God to remove those blessings, to see if Job would change his tune. So, God gave permission to start this first level of testing, targeting his family, his animals and his possessions: Here’s the total:

500 yoke of oxen and 500 donkeys carried off by Sabeans

7,000 sheep burned up by 'The fire of God which fell from the sky'

3,000 camels stolen by the Chaldeans;

the house of the firstborn destroyed by a mighty wind, killing Job's ten children.

That’s pretty bad. That’d be bad enough for me to rethink the God issue. But Job hung in there, stating,

"Naked I came out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return: Lord has given, and Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of Lord”

Job 1:21

Yeah, I don’t know if that’d be my response. But Job passed this first round of testing. So, the devil wanted to up the ante. He wanted to target his body. God, again, allowed this, but with the stipulation Job would keep his life (Job 2:6).

So, here came the boils! Yay, good times.  It was so bad, boils, head to toe, that Job had to use a piece of broken pottery to scrape himself with (Job 2:8). I remember when I was sixteen and had the chicken pox. I thought that was bad!

Wait, it gets worse for poor Job. You would think that this would be the perfect time for any loved ones to rally around him and support him. Nope. In the very next verse, His wife offered her two cents worth:

“Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die.”

Job 2:9

Very helpful.

And in verse ten, we see his response, again, a response I don’t know I’d be sharing; I’d probably opt for my own pity party:

“Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil?”

The verse later tells us, “In all this did not Job sin with his lips.”

Yeah, I think my lips would probably go elsewhere.

So, enter Job’s friends. Speaking of pity party…

“And when they lifted up their eyes afar off, and knew him not, they lifted up their voice, and wept; and they rent everyone his mantle, and sprinkled dust upon their heads toward heaven. So they sat down with him upon the ground seven days and seven nights, and none spake a word unto him: for they saw that his grief was very great.”

Job 2:12-13

Yeah, I get by with a little help from my friends. Again, not helpful.

So, with all of this wonderful comfort and support from his wife and friends, Job finally cries uncle and curses the day he was born (Job 3:1).And then he launched into a series of more miserable rants (Job 3:3-26). Ready?

“May the day of my birth perish,
and the night that said, ‘A boy is conceived!’
 That day—may it turn to darkness;
may God above not care about it;
may no light shine on it.
 May gloom and utter darkness claim it once more;
may a cloud settle over it;
may blackness overwhelm it.
That night—may thick darkness seize it;
may it not be included among the days of the year
nor be entered in any of the months.
 May that night be barren;
may no shout of joy be heard in it.
 May those who curse days curse that day,
those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
 May its morning stars become dark;
may it wait for daylight in vain
and not see the first rays of dawn,
 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me
to hide trouble from my eyes.

“Why did I not perish at birth,
and die as I came from the womb?
 Why were there knees to receive me
and breasts that I might be nursed?
For now I would be lying down in peace;
I would be asleep and at rest
with kings and rulers of the earth,
who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
 with princes who had gold,
who filled their houses with silver.
 Or why was I not hidden away in the ground like a stillborn child,
like an infant who never saw the light of day?
 There the wicked cease from turmoil,
and there the weary are at rest.
 Captives also enjoy their ease;
they no longer hear the slave driver’s shout.
 The small and the great are there,
and the slaves are freed from their owners.

“Why is light given to those in misery,
and life to the bitter of soul,
 to those who long for death that does not come,
who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
 who are filled with gladness
and rejoice when they reach the grave?
 Why is life given to a man
whose way is hidden,
whom God has hedged in?
 For sighing has become my daily food;
my groans pour out like water.

What I feared has come upon me;
what I dreaded has happened to me.
 I have no peace, no quietness;
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

So, yeah, he’s in a great place at the pity party, isn’t he? It looks hopeless, but we almost gloss over one detail: it’s not over yet.

Was any of what Job went through easy and painless? No, of course not. Death, loss, boils- none of those things are easy.

But had he made his suffering bigger than God? Sound familiar? Yep, I’d been there before, believing my “woe is me” was too much for God, bleaker and more hopeless than anything ever experienced before. I had my share of Job moments, lamenting, wailing, crying, beating myself with whatever convenient ashes I deemed necessary. Eating disorders were some of those ashes.

Let’s face it, concerning whatever I was often whining and crying about, it was all about my drama queen suffering more than actual reality. But that’s what I needed, just as much as Job, himself, needed: a reality check. And Job eventually, did have a change of perspective:

“I know that thou canst do everything, and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

 Who is he that hideth counsel without knowledge? therefore have I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not.

Hear, I beseech thee, and I will speak: I will demand of thee, and declare thou unto me.

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear: but now mine eye seeth thee.

Job 42:2-5

And that change in perspective changed his life:

“After Job had prayed for his friends, the Lord made him prosperous again and gave him twice as much as he had before.”

Job 42:10

“The Lord blessed the latter part of Job’s life more than the first. He had fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen and a thousand donkeys. And he also had seven sons and three daughters. The first daughter he named Jemimah, the second Keziah and the third Keren-Happuch. Nowhere in all the land were there found women as beautiful as Job’s daughters, and their father granted them an inheritance along with their brothers.

After this, Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. And so he died, old and full of years.”

Job 42:12-16

Not too shabby. So what, if we’re miserable and going through a hard time, we’ll get these same results? God’s no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34; James 2:1), so whatever we’re going through, whatever we’ve lost, God is able to redeem it back to us.

But there’s more to look at than getting compensated. The reward is easy to take. But what do we do now when we’re right in the middle of a Job experience? Perhaps we’re covered in spiritual, emotional or financial boils which seem to have no cure. Perhaps we’ve lost loved ones, reputations, health and some quality of life we once enjoyed. We cannot explain the tests and trials; we don’t understand. But should we be surprised by a life curve ball? Scripture tells us not to be.

“Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened unto you: But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 4:12-13

After all…

“That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honor and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:”

1 Peter 1:7

There’s a bigger reason for the tests you and I go through in life. God doesn’t allow this because He hates us, wants to punish us or enjoys seeing us in pain. There are, indeed, lessons to be learned in difficult times. We know this logically. But emotionally? We need more convincing, don’t we?

And who are we to share in any kind of glory if we have no understanding of suffering?

“But rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings; that, when his glory shall be revealed, ye may be glad also with exceeding joy.”

1 Peter 4:13

What we learn from pain, difficulty and struggle is incredibly valuable. God never said it’d be easy, quick and comfortable, however. And so we’re back to our favorite word again: patience.

“And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; And patience, experience; and experience, hope:”

Romans 5:3-4

What do you and I do with hope, that supposed fruit of patience? How do we respond when everything around us looks hopeless?

“Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? hope in God: for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God.”

Psalms 43:5

We can choose. So, what choice will we make? Our Job experience is quite real, yes, but our reactions are our own.

“I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live.”

Deuteronomy 30:19

Let’s work to choose this reaction:

“…blessed be the name of Lord.”

Job 1:21

Patience is doable for both you and I. It may not be an instant gratification party, but it is doable. Will we choose to have the patience of Job then?

Work in progress, okay, impatient work in progress, at that, but I choose to work on it.

Just please hurry up, God!

Copyright © 2015 by Sheryle Cruse