February 27th Reflection by Bill Lynch

Job 4:1-21 (NRSV)
Eliphaz speaks of sin
Then Eliphaz the Temanite answered:
"If one ventures a word with you, will you be offended?
But who can keep from speaking?
See, you have instructed many;
you have strengthened the weak hands.
Your words have supported those who were stumbling,
and you have made firm the feeble knees.
But now it has come to you, and you are impatient;
it touches you, and you are dismayed.
Is not your fear of God your confidence,
and the integrity of your ways your hope?

"Think now, who that was innocent ever perished?
Or where were the upright cut off?
As I have seen, those who plow iniquity

and sow trouble reap the same.
By the breath of God they perish,
and by the blast of his anger they are consumed.
The roar of the lion, the voice of the fierce lion,
and the teeth of the young lions are broken.
The strong lion perishes for lack of prey,
and the whelps of the lioness are scattered.
"Now a word came stealing to me,
my ear received the whisper of it.
Amid thoughts from visions of the night,
when deep sleep falls on mortals,
dread came upon me, and trembling,
which made all my bones shake.
A spirit glided past my face;
the hair of my flesh bristled.
It stood still,
but I could not discern its appearance.
A form was before my eyes;
there was silence, then I heard a voice:
'Can mortals be righteous before God?
Can human beings be pure before their Maker?
Even in his servants he puts no trust,
and his angels he charges with error;
how much more those who live in houses of clay,
whose foundation is in the dust,
who are crushed like a moth.
Between morning and evening they are destroyed;
they perish forever without any regarding it.
Their tent cord is plucked up within them,
and they die devoid of wisdom.'

Reflection
The good and the bad both get good and bad in life. Just because you think you have lived "good" with God and neighbor, doesn't give you a ticket of freedom from hard times in life. You will get sick, you may become poor or unemployed or hungry or any number of things may happen in life. This is something we live through.

But the comfort of it all is that we have one of whom God sent to this earth to experience these very same joys and sorrows and good and bad in Jesus. In Jesus' life, suffering and death, he experienced being human to the point that in Jesus' resurrection we now live with a hope that draws us through these times. We know the glory waiting us as we walk with God through our life. There is a resurrection in store for you and for me. Believe and begin your walk with God today.

Prayer
Lord, teach me the lessons I need to learn from the life of Job, your servant. Walk with me through this life towards my resurrection in your glory. --- Amen