Day 146: Job 16, 17 and 18

What ails you that you keep on arguing? (Job 16:3)

Job referring to his friends as miserable comforters (v. 2) reminds me of the SNL character Debbie Downer played by actress/comedienne Rachel Dratch. Debbie was that socially awkward acquaintance (we all know one) who shares depressing anecdotal information guaranteed to cast a pall over any gathering.

In one episode while the whole gang is enjoying breakfast in a Magic Kingdom novelty restaurant, one cast member proclaims how great steak and eggs sound. Debbie's reply: Ever since they found mad cow disease in the U.S. I'm not taking any chances. It can live in your body for years before it ravages your brain. We know she's a lot of fun at parties.

Job goes on to say, If you were in my place, I could speak just like you. But my mouth would encourage you; my words of comfort would bring you relief (vv. 4,5 my paraphrase).

Let's face it: some people seem to have the spiritual gift of discouragement... they're pathological downers. Moms-to-be heading for the delivery room don't need to hear horror stories about the pain of childbirth. People scheduled for a tax audit don't need to be regaled with accounts of someone else's IRS nightmares.

If you're an encourager, keep it up. You are sure to be welcome in any gathering. If you're a Debbie (or Donny) Downer, maybe you should just not talk.

Do you light up a room by entering it? Or by leaving it?

Day 145: Job 13, 14 and 15

Though he slay me, yet will I hope in him. (Job 13:15)

Job exhibits great confidence in his own righteousness, and even greater confidence in God.

Job's statement highlights an important ingredient in faith. Job is saying that no matter how bad things get, no matter how dark, no matter how hopeless, he still knows where he will put his trust.

When everything's going our way, when the sun is shining and the flowers are blooming, when we've just received an A on a report card or a nice attaboy at work, who needs faith then? Faith was made for dark times. Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see (Hebrews 11:1). Faith is about certainty in uncertain times.

When we can't see what's around the bend, that's when we wrap ourselves in the faith that God is walking with us and will not let us down.

Can you trust God even through the hard times?

Day 144: Job 10, 11 and 12

If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent . . . you will stand firm without fear. (Job 11:14,15)

Job's friend Zophar probably meant well and genuinely cared for his friend. We can forgive his ignorance in that he was simply going along with accepted understandings of how things worked. Again, popular thought said: Do right and you'll prosper; do wrong and you'll suffer. Obviously since so many things were going wrong for Job, he must have done something really bad.

Zophar and the others couldn't conceive of a righteous man suffering the way Job was. They saw his pain and wanted it to stop. They were doing what they thought was best. If they could get Job to confess his sin and abandon his claims of innocence, then his life and fortunes could be restored.

Maybe you've experienced the pain of well-meaning friends adding insult to injury in their awkward attempts to minister to you in a time of suffering. How many platitudes and cliches have been offered grieving parents at the loss of a child, or to a friend who's been diagnosed with cancer. Statements like: Take comfort that this is God's will, or If you just confess the sin in your life God will heal you, don't do anyone any good.

Let's not inflict further pain with careless words.

What would you say to a hurting friend?

Day 143: Job 7, 8 and 9

If only there were someone to arbitrate between us, to lay his hand upon us both. (Job 9:33)

Some critical scholars see Job as an amalgam of writings. There is the original account of a good man beset by horrible misfortune - one of the oldest stories in the Bible; and then there is the long poetic conversation between Job and his friends, which is of more recent vintage. Wisdom literature - Job is classified among the wisdom writings - was the last part of the Old Testament to arrive at its present form and become canon, whereas the setting of Job is more congruent with the time of Abraham.

Regardless of when it was written, this passage has always caught me off guard. It is a poignant cry for a bridge between man and God. While I in no way want to imply that the writer of Job had any Messianic thoughts going here; from this side of the cross I cannot help but see this cry fulfilled in Jesus as our High Priest, our bridge between God and man.

Job, there is someone. Jesus Christ is our bridge - our connection to God. One hand on God - one hand on humanity.

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense - Jesus Christ, the Righteous One (1 John 2:1).

What would you want Jesus to say to the Father on your behalf?

Day 142: Job 4, 5 and 6

We have examined this, and it is true. So hear it and apply it to yourself. (Job 5:27)

Word of mouth is one of the most effective forms of advertising. Someone for whom we have respect tells us, I tried it and I like it. I think you'll like it too. That carries a lot of weight. As that endorsement spreads from 1 to 2 to 7 to 10,000 people, we call it going viral. It attains a momentum of its own and becomes almost impossible to stop. Advertising agencies spend loads of cash to achieve that kind of success.

But there's nothing more annoying than someone saying I should like something I don't like just because they tried it and they like it. I live in the Pacific Northwest and I don't like coffee. Talk about pressure! It doesn't matter if your favorite brand really is the world's best cup of coffee. To me that means it actually tastes even more repulsive than the other brands. And no, thank you, I have no desire to acquire the taste.

Job's friends ascribed to the popular philosophy of the day: Do right and you'll prosper; do wrong and you'll suffer. But no matter from whom or how many Job heard that message; he still couldn't accept it, because he knew it wasn't true in his life.

Have you ever felt pressured to accept someone's remedy for your life's circumstances even though you knew it didn't fit?

Day 141: Job 1, 2 and 3

No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was. (Job 2:12)

Why do bad things happen to good people? That's the basic question in Job. Theodicy is a defense of God's justice in spite of life's onslaught of overwhelming evil. This question has plagued mankind since... well, since the time of Job.

Retribution theology can be summed up in the phrase: What goes around comes around. We read this thinking in the book of Deuteronomy: Love the Lord your God . . . then you will live and increase . . . But if your heart turns away . . . you will certainly be destroyed (30:16-18). We get the same kind of thinking in the book of Proverbs: Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm (1:32).

When Job lost everything he had, he must have thought: Wait! This isn't supposed to happen to me - I read Proverbs. I signed up for the extended warranty!

But we all know bad things do happen to good people, don't we?

That's why, even though Job can get tedious at times, there's something about these writings that keep bringing us back, as if we can identify with Job, unlike some of those Bible characters who are a little too good to be true.

So you had a bad day...

Day 140: Esther 7, 8, 9 and 10

They hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. (Esther 7:10)

Haman's plot to wipe out the Jews had been announced. What Haman didn't know was that Persia's new queen was a Jew, and that the target of his anger, Mordecai, was in fact Esther's cousin who had raised her after her parents died.

At the risk of her life, Esther appeared unbidden before the king. He received her with pleasure and offered her anything. She asked that the king and Haman come to a private banquet with her that day. At lunch, the king again offered her anything she wanted, and Esther simply asked him to bring Haman for another meal the next day.

In the next 24 hours, Haman, carried away with his own importance, contracted the construction of a special gallows on which to hang Mordecai. Then to his great distress, the next morning he was ordered to honor the very man he despised. Upon his return to Esther's quarters for lunch later that day, Esther announced to the king that she was a Jew and that Haman had plotted the genocide of the Jewish people.

In a rage, the king decreed that Haman be hanged on the gallows he had built for Mordecai. The edict to kill the Jews was reversed, and a day of mourning turned to celebration.

If a man digs a pit, he will fall into it (Proverbs 26:27).

Ever have anger or bitter words come back to haunt you?