Today's Meditation
Read Job 6, various passages
Then Job answered: 2“O that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! 3For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash. 4For the arrows of the Almighty are in me; my spirit drinks their poison; the terrors of God are arrayed against me.
8“O that I might have my request, and that God would grant my desire; 9that it would please God to crush me, that he would let loose his hand and cut me off! 10This would be my consolation; I would even exult in unrelenting pain; for I have not denied the words of the Holy One. 11What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? 12Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? 13In truth I have no help in me, and any resource is driven from me.
14“Those who withhold kindness from a friend forsake the fear of the Almighty. 15My companions are treacherous like a torrent-bed, like freshets that pass away, 21Such you have now become to me; you see my calamity, and are afraid.
Job replies to his friend's comment and to God. Job's frustration comes from a place of brokenness. He has endured much and will not be consoled. His grief is heavy, so heavy in fact that he feels that God's arrows, touched with poison, have been shot through him, and that his spirit drinks of that poison. He wishes that he were dead; that is his desire, his wish, his last request of God.
Job then questions his own ability to endure such suffering. "What is my strength, that I should wait? And what is my end, that I should be patient? Is my strength the strength of stones, or is my flesh bronze? In truth I have no help in me..."
When tragedy strikes we never feel that we can endure the pain. We often feel that it is too much for our soul to bear. As mentioned earlier, the spirit work of the soul is tough work and is first done in silence, as his friends sat with Job in the ash heap while he mourned, being present with him. And then, as with Job, the tirade of accusations, of intense blame, of emotional eruption comes. The internal work of grief, not yet complete, is nonetheless let loose. In the film, Steel Magnolias, this is shown in a graphic and well acted scene by Sally Field who plays M'Lynn, Shelby's mother. She endures the death of her daughter mostly in silence as a pillar of strength to her family and friends. But then, suddenly, in a torrent of anger, after the funeral, she lets loose. And boy, does she let loose!
God does the same with us. Through the pain and grief, God watches us, consoles us, and whether we feel it or not, is present with us - even through the tempest of harsh words and rash negotiations.
If you are experiencing loss, pain, suffering, or heartache, allow the feelings to flow. God is with you, even if you don't feel it at the moment. God is present with you right now. And when the time has come for you to yell, to scream, to beat your fist against the wall - do it. Let those intense emotions have their release; let it out.
Fall On Me by Andre Bocelli and his son, Matteo Bocelli
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