Job is not necessarily one of those people in the Bible that you aspire to have a life like. After all, he loses his children, his livelihood, his possessions, and his health. He becomes an outcast, pitied and belittled by his friends, and his wife basically thinks he’s a lunatic. So no, not necessarily someone we’re all jumping at the opportunity to mimic.
And yet, there is a sense in which I so desperately want to be like Job, yet I fall short so.many.times. Read Job’s words in Job 23:11-12:
“My foot has held fast to His steps; I have kept His way and not turned aside. I have not departed from the commandment of His lips; I have treasured the words of His mouth more than my necessary food.”
Wow. This is exactly what I long for my life to look like. Holding fast to the steps of God, keeping His way and His every commandment. Treasuring His words more than food. That is truly hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and that is something that doesn’t always characterize my life.
My life has been relatively easy, and I’m guessing yours has too. Yes, we each have burdens and trials. Yes, we’ve all gone through something traumatic. But overall, when you compare your life to Job’s, or compare your life to Christ’s, what have each of us truly been through? I’ll simply speak for myself though, and say again — my life has been relatively easy. I grew up in a place where I readily heard the Good News of Jesus. I have always had at least one person in my corner pushing me to be better for the Lord. I had education and opportunities and abilities that allowed me to go to a college where I would learn more about God and meet a man after His heart. I have a marriage where my husband respects me and honors me and protects me and looks out for me, and has every day of this 4.5 year journey. Not every moment of my life has been smooth, but every moment has been blessed by God. And still, I don’t fit the description Job gives of Himself.
I think about other passages, from the Psalms especially, where the writers can boldly say, “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if there is any wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting (Psalm 139:23-24).” When I read verses like that, I am equal parts awe-struck and terrified. I know God wouldn’t have to search very long to find wicked in me. I know that I am much more sinful than I even like to think I am. And so again, I go back to Job.
Perhaps I need a few more trials and a few less blessings. Perhaps I need to toughen up, to sink my teeth into the word so that I am ready for new trials. After all, we read that God will not allow us to be tempted above what we can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), but perhaps we need to be able to bear more. We need to study so that we can have greater trials and have a faith that is deeper than ever before. Instead of praying that God will continue to bless us, perhaps we should change that to a prayer that asks God to do His will in our lives…that asks God to make us stronger, better equipped in His service. Maybe we should ask to be put on the front lines, to be put through the fire, instead of asking to be shielded.
I want to desire God’s word more than food. I want to confidently say that I have not departed from His commandments. No, not so people will pat me on the back for being a “Super Christian”, but so I can show my God that I am serious about being a disciple. That I am all in. A living sacrifice. Completely His.
It is my prayer today that we can all be more like Job. And if that means that we all need more trials and hardships, so be it. I welcome it. Because more than anything — even more than my comfort — I want to be holy before my Holy God.
