Reflections

¹¹“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.

¹⁶“I waste away; I will not live forever
    Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
¹⁷“What is man that You magnify him,
    And that You are concerned about him,
¹⁸That You examine him every morning
   And try him every moment?
¹⁹“Will You never turn Your gaze away from me,
    Nor let me alone until I swallow my spittle?
²⁰“Have I sinned? What have I done to You,
   O watcher of men?
   Why have You set me as Your target,
   So that I am a burden to myself?
²¹“Why then do You not pardon my transgression
    And take away my iniquity?
    For now I will lie down in the dust;
    And You will seek me, but I will not be.” Job 7: 11, 16-21

Job is not aware that Satan has done all these things to him.  Instead Job believes that God is the cause of his calamity and begins to complain and ask God what he has done.  Many times we find ourselves in this situation when the worst happens we question where God is in it all.  We even wonder if God has brought us to this situation.  What Job failed to realize and what we often fail to realize is how God sees us.  We know that God did not bring this calamity upon Job and we know that God believes that Job is a righteous man.  God has nothing bad to say about Job.  Unfortunately, Job begins to believe that God has targeted Job for destruction.

We must remember that we have an enemy who seeks to destroy us just like Job.  That does not mean that God has forsaken us.  God fights our battles for us.  We know in the story of Job that God limited Satan to what he could do to Job.  We also know that God will deliver Job from the hand of the enemy.  God will deliver us from our enemies.

Job also begins to wander what sin he did to cause God to turn on him.  Many times we believe that when we sin God punishes us.  But Jesus died and our sins have been judged and forgiven.  God never uses sickness and disease to punish us for our sins or correct our behavior.  Job was accused by Satan; God brought no accusations against Job.  Matter of fact the bible says Job did not sin.  So sin is not the cause of Job’s troubles but Satan himself is the cause.

So our response should always be to thank God for His loving-kindness and acknowledgement that He will never leave nor forsake us.  He will never turn His gaze from us.  His mercies are new every morning and He takes great delight in us.