Job's Comforter

noun -  a person who aggravates distress under the guise of giving comfort.

Boy, are there plenty of these around! Like the extremely helpful (!) individual who told me this week how much he was trying to help me - not only did he fail, he ended up making me feel much worse....

The title of course comes from the biblical story of Job. Unlike me, he had three 'comforters'. These were people tried to console Job, who was otherwise an upright man, telling him that his troubles must surely be divine retribution for his sins.

Is that right?

Actually, I don't think that God - the loving and caring Father that I read about in scripture - is one that sends 'divine retribution' to make people's lives more miserable.

He doesn't send the trials.

But He doesn't leave us alone in the midst of them. 

And that's more a comfort to me. 

Dark Night Of The Soul

Ever feel like God is a million miles away? Well, you're not alone. Actually, you begin to discover that it's often a common thing in your spiritual walk. There will come periods in your Christian experience where God is so close that He's almost tangible; other times when He is apparently absent for what seems an eternity; where your prayers seem to go unanswered. It will become very dark indeed...

I have discovered that some notable pieces of literature have been written about such experiences. For instance, 'The Dark Night of the Soul' ('La noche oscura del alma') is a poem written by a Spanish poet and Christian mystic called Saint John of the Cross, way back in the 16th Century. Read a little more about the poem here . And you will find there's a whole bunch of other examples available...

You may ask - why has God apparently abandoned you? Why do you seem to be going through trials and tests, like Old Testament character Job, without any hope of rescue, of respite?

The truth is - God doesn't ever leave you on your own. Let's face it, we know through His word that He is everywhere. Omnipresent. However, God sometimes finds it necessary to hide His presence from you. He wants you to trust Him. To build up your personal faith in Him.

There's more. He wants you to step out in that faith. To step out of that boat (see yesterday's blog entry) and walk towards Him. To praise Him despite the storm. 

Yes, sure, the whole experience might well be painful and disconcerting. But God wants to lead you into a deeper level of maturity. Are you up to the challenge?

Hebrews 13:5b-6 (The Message)

Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote, "God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?"

Fight or Flight?

The title for this blog entry comes from a study of something called 'fight-or-flight response', a phrase first coined a physiologist called Walter Bradford Cannon. He was studying the basic response in animals to a threat, and noted the automatic response to danger that makes changes in the body, making the animal ready for defensive action, either fighting or running away.

In times of stress, hormones like adrenalin are released, speeding up the heart rate, slowing digestion, redirecting blood to the muscles and changing the body's autonomic functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength.

These same effects can be seen in humans, however in modern society this response can cause problems. Modern day stresses (e.g., a bad day at work) could trigger this response, however neither fight (physical violence) nor flight (running away from the problem) are possible. If an individual is unable to control this response, it may surface as stress - a natural reaction if he or she is faced with a situation where they see no easy escape route.

By its very nature, the fight-or-flight response bypasses the individual's rational mind, so some irrational behaviour may surface, even if the perceived 'threat' does not stand up to close examination. When things get much too 'hot', the individual may do something quite 'out of character'. I think that's why we see increased incidents of irrational behaviour in situations when there is no way out - like incidents of 'road rage' in the middle of a traffic jam

When the 'threat' is gone, the body's autonomic functions are designed to return to normal, but there are recorded cases involving chronic stress where this doesn’t happen. Extreme incidents of stress have been known to cause other psychological problems, or can surface as physical symptoms, such as a rash.

I've been looking at incidents in scripture of extreme stress, and am led once again to the Book of Job. His story is certainly one where no easy escape route was visible! Job suffered more than his fair share of problems and suffering.

Job's reaction to the news that all of his children have been killed in a storm is an eye-opener:

Job 1:21 (New International Version, ©2010)
...and said: "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart.
The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; may the name of the LORD be praised.”

Is what is generally recalled as the "patience of Job" really a reluctance of Job to accept or come to terms with alarming news? Job certainly started to develop unusual physical symptoms (see later chapters, a rash that covered his body). Unable to fight against this torrent of awful incidents and certainly unable to run away from them, he would be suffering from extremes of stress, and even suffering denial that he is in a really bad place!

The final message from the Book of Job is one of perseverance. It calls on all of us to recognise our own limitations and to put our trust in God in all circumstances, even when we don't understand why. It does not give us any answers as to why there is suffering in this world - but it gives us the encouragement to hang on and not give up. To fight, and not to run away.

It is interesting to note that once Job had finally experienced God and had realised that God had not forsaken him, his hope returned and he began to get better.

Just to complete this entry, there are of course occasions where flight is the correct reaction - we need to flee from situations which may put us into harm:

1 Corinthians 6:18
1 Timothy 6:9-11
2 Timothy 2:22

Who Sinned?

John 9:1-5 (NIV)
1 As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth.
2 His disciples asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?"
3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
4 As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
5 While I am in the world, I am the light of the world."

The thoughts here come from reflecting on some of the discussions from a course I'm attending on Wednesday nights, and brought once again home to me once again as part of my daily reading on Thursday morning (see WordLive ). It's interesting to read this passage after reading the book of Job last week.

When things go well, we're often very pleased with ourselves. ‘God is blessing me’, we might say. However, what about when things go horribly wrong? What have we done wrong? Interestingly, that's exactly what the disciples thought in the passage above. They assumed the man’s suffering was due to God’s judgement, but the Lord puts them right here. I know enough about disability from what I've learnt over the years from my own family members and from my working life not to make these sort of assumptions, however it's interesting to see what Jesus teaches us here.

You see, Jesus doesn't give out blame, he goes out of his way to give blessing - he takes the opportunity to make things better, not to make them worse by pointing fingers. There's something for all of us to remember when we review this from within the 'blame culture' that we see all around us.

As Patient As Job

Let's face it - this week at work was not easy. Plans that I had made to deal effectively with this week's workload were quickly scuppered by several sudden changes of plan, a series of unexpected computer bugs (aren't they always unexpected!), and the fact I felt grotty due to a pounding headache and sickness for most of the week. Deadlines queue up to be met, relentlessly. There have been a couple of highlights this week, but these have been few and far between...

There have been several references made at work today to the character of Job, who you will recall from the Old Testament had his faith severely tested. At one time Job was one of the most prosperous and happy of men, faithfully praising God for His goodness. Trying to get him to curse God, Satan destroyed all that Job owned, killed his children, and struck Job himself with sores from head to foot.

Reading up on the character of Job, I find there are references to him in several works of ancient literature. His name comes from a Hebrew word meaning “persecuted.” As well as the references in Old and New Testaments, Job is also mentioned as a prophet in the Qur'an. The story of Job crosses many cultural boundaries and still speaks to us today, exploring the themes of injustice, suffering and bitterness.

However, by far the biggest encouragement to me tonight is the fact that Job remained loyal to his beliefs throughout, and refused to curse God. I'm encouraged that the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning and he lived 140 years (Job 42:10,17). And although I can well understand the concept of 'Job's comforters', it is Job's steadfastness and hope that I take away with me. I'm re-reading the book of Job tonight.

Rose-Coloured Glasses - the sequel

I've been reading up on this subject this week. I've rediscovered Voltaire's Candide (which I haven't studied since I left school); I've read some quite heavy theology from a Catholic website and I've taken stock of my own life in context of it all.

Some Quotations on Optimism:
Charlotte Bronte: "I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward."
Sydney Harris: "When I hear somebody sigh, "Life is hard," I am always tempted to ask, "Compared to what?"

Some Quotations on Pessimism:
Helen Keller: "No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit."
Oscar Wilde: "A Pessimist is one who, when he has the choice of two evils, chooses both."
Clare Boothe Luce: "No good deed goes unpunished." (one of my favourite quotations, although I don't think it pessimistic)

I think the best example I've found from the world at large is Abraham Lincoln. Despite some periods of depression, he was an optimist. He taught himself to read, had numerous failures but succeeded in becoming US President in 1860.

And of course we have an excellent example in Job. He lost it all - his children, his health, his finances, the encouragement of his wife. His friends even gave him bad advice (... familiar...) Finally we read in Job 13:15 - "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him. Even so, I will defend my own ways before Him."