Shade Tree Wisdom 6/8/10

We have been reading about the disaster in the Gulf, oil leaking from a broken well. Then we read about the disaster in Ohio, a storm cutting a swath 300 yards wide and 10 miles long. It really does seem as if there is no end to such reports. When one ends, another takes its place in the news.

Now isn’t that like life where changes often come suddenly, seemingly from left field, out of the blue, here they are, and we need to deal with them somehow.

And the man who comes to mind is Job. He lived long ago in a land of Uz. He was a respected citizen since he was blameless, God-fearing, and clean-living. He had ten children, fields of livestock, herds of camels, servants to look after his interests. He was called “the greatest man in the East”. His years of hard work, honest dealing, helpful neighborliness had made his name a synonym for honesty and integrity.

One day he was sitting under the Oak in the back yard relaxing after lunch, chatting with his foreman, and they were planning to start the harvest in two days, when messenger rushed in with the news that the Sabeans had killed the workers and taken his oxen and donkeys away. That was followed by another saying a bolt of lightning had killed the sheep and their shepherds, that was followed by a third saying the Chaldeans had driven off his herds of camels and killed their keepers. The final report told him a storm had destroyed the house where his children were eating and killed them all. On top of that, he lost his health.

When he dust had settled, what did he say? Maybe his hand was shaky when he wrote, but this is what he said. “Naked I came from my mothers womb, And naked I shall return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, Blessed e the name o the Lord.” Job 1,21. That is followed by these words, “In all this Job sinned not, nor did he blame God.” 1,22

How can he do that? Be so calm about the disaster. What's the secret for his calm behavior?

Job looked up. His words are, “Shall we indeed accept good from God, and not accept adversity?” 2,10. He sees God ruling his life, always. “Thou art the Potter, I am the clay”. As the Prophet says.

Then, Job looked to the promise God made. “I Know that My Redeemer lives, and at the last . . .I shall see God”. 19, 25.26. This is sure and certain, for him as well as us, because “Christ Jesus died for the sins of the whole world”. Job lived with this hope, and, as St. Paul writes, “hope does not disappoint” Romans 5,5. So Job endured today when he saw tomorrow.

And finally, and lay this lesson to heart, Job confessed his own lack of understanding. He did not even try to explain “why me” of this all. In the end he says, “I know that Thou canst do all things, and that no purpose of Thine can be thwarted. Therefore I declared that which I did not understand . .things too deep for me, which I did not know. I will ask Thee, and do Thou instruct me.” Job 42, 2-4. That’s the secret for us in our corner of this world. May God bless our life in His Care.

GPD 6/8/10