Friday, December 1, 2017

Friday - Job 30 - The Present: Job's Current Misery


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fter reflecting briefly on his earlier successes, Job moved swiftly along to his then current troubles. The bitterness of his pain is seen right off in verse 1 where he makes a statement which I can't summarize without depleting its sting, so here it is: "Now they that are younger than I have me in derision, whose fathers I would have disdained to have set with the dogs of my flock." Hmm... me thinks ol' Job was feeling kinda' frustrated. Simply put, Job felt as low as you can go... lower than a snake's belly if you please. When you feel like the outcasts, dregs of society and bums of the world are looking down on you, well, you know you're low for sure.

Without repeating all of the specifics from this section of Job's complaint, it is sufficient to point to his summary from verse 21. Job felt like life had become cruel and that his days were saturated with opposition. And, with that backdrop he remembered how he had helped others when they were down, so he anticipated that he too would soon get relief. But, that was not to be (Job 30:26); at least, not yet.  And no surprise.  The kindnesses we show to others are not rightly aimed with reciprocation in mind, so when it is us in need, kindness shouldn’t be expected.  In other words, if you think that because you have been kind to others you will automatically receive kindness from them, then you are going to be greatly disappointed.

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