This story of Job has always fascinated and often confused me. It’s fascinating because it’s impressively rich in wisdom about why God allows evil in the world. It’s confusing because the logic in the dialogue is sometimes hard to follow — are you arguing for God’s goodness or not, Job? It’s also confusing because his buddies offer insane advice followed by what seems like sound advice.
But then that’s life, isn’t it? Life is … well, it’s messy, to use a word often found here at Junkyard Wisdom. And the story of Job is certainly messy.
As one who writes about generosity and the temptations of wealth, the story of Job has a theme that resonates for me: there is a constant wrestling with the whisper of wealth and security. In the story Satan essentially says to God, “Well sure he’s a good person – you’ve given him everything he’d ever want! But take away all his donuts and you’ll see just how greedy and angry he can be.”
God is proud of Job and trusts his commitment, and that very trust puts Job in jeopardy. The plot line of the story is essentially asking, “Where does Job put his trust?” That’s a question all of us wrestle with.
For me there is much to learn in Job 21:13-16, which reads in my junkyard translation:
“The successful spend their lives in prosperity until they die in peace. Sounds good on the surface, right? Here’s where they go wrong. Since all is so good for them they say to God, “Leave me alone, we don’t need you. You just add headaches to our lives. We have all that we need, so what point is there in obeying you? You’ll just take away our donuts.” But they don’t realize their prosperity is a gift. God allowed them to have it, and God can take it away anytime. I stay away from such thinking.“
That hits right at the core of so much of my writing.
I’m not the person Job was – not by a long shot. But his passion to resist the whisper of wealth, fame, success, and security inspires me to do better.
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