Day 51
Scripture focus: Remember those earlier days after you had received the light, when you stood your ground in a great contest in the face of suffering. Hebrews 10:32 NIV
In the story of Job, he lost everything that was precious to him. He lost his children, his health, his possessions, his wealth, his position of status in the community, the support of his friends (and his wife), and his conscious contact with God. (Interestingly enough, he didn't lose his wife. Remember her? She's the one that suggested he kill himself to end his misery.)
Was the loss of his children, health, possession, status, and support of those he loved why he suffered?
In Hebrews 10:32, the Greek word for "suffering" is "pathema" - meaning to suffer mental pressure; misery that affects the mind.
I pray that we will spend some time today ruminating over the source of our own personal suffering experience(s). Is it the physical losses that produce such pain? Or is it what's happening between our ears as a response to our losses?
Job suffered horrific losses that would have knocked any of us to our knees. But what really seemed to slay his spirit was the harsh criticisms (false accusations in this case) and bad advice his friends heaped upon him.
In our families, we must be careful how we sit with those who suffer. We don't want to be guilty of piling on. We also want to be sensitive to the fact that sometimes suffering isn't in plain sight - either because it would be inappropriate to share it, or because we fear that we'll perhaps be surrounded by friends and counselors no wiser than Job's.
Suffering isn't just about the things we lose - it's also about the way a person's mind perceives the loss.
For those of us who profess to believe that there is a God, we must always be careful to remember that there's always more going on in our seen world than we can see, taste, touch, smell, or hear. Let's be careful to watch our clichés and platitudes, our assumptions and presumptions. Remember Job.
Recommended reading: Leviticus 9 and 10 in the morning; Mark 5 and 6 in the evening
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