CHRIST FOR PRISONERS WEEKLY BULLETIN
Sunday, May 6, 2007

Hope amidst Suffering – Job 6: 2-13

Job 6:2-13 (NKJV)
² "Oh, that my grief were fully weighed, And my calamity laid with it on the scales!
³ For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea-- Therefore my words have been rash.
⁴ For the arrows of the Almighty are within me; My spirit drinks in their poison; The terrors of God are arrayed against me.
⁵ Does the wild donkey bray when it has grass, Or does the ox low over its fodder?
⁶ Can flavorless food be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
⁷ My soul refuses to touch them; They are as loathsome food to me.
⁸ "Oh, that I might have my request, That God would grant me the thing that I long for!
⁹ That it would please God to crush me, That He would loose His hand and cut me off!
¹⁰ Then I would still have comfort; Though in anguish, I would exult, He will not spare; For I have not concealed the words of the Holy One.
¹¹ "What strength do I have, that I should hope? And what is my end, that I should prolong my life?
¹² Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh bronze?
¹³ Is my help not within me? And is success driven from me?

Job 6:2-13 (RVR)
² ¡Oh, que pesasen justamente mi queja y mi tormento, Y se alzasen igualmente en balanza!
³ Porque pesarían ahora más que la arena del mar; Por eso mis palabras han sido precipitadas.
⁴ Porque las saetas del Todopoderoso están en mí, Cuyo veneno bebe mi espíritu; Y terrores de Dios me combaten.
⁵ ¿Acaso gime el asno montés junto a la hierba? ¿Muge el buey junto a su pasto?
⁶ ¿Se comerá lo desabrido sin sal? ¿Habrá gusto en la clara del huevo?
⁷ Las cosas que mi alma no quería tocar, Son ahora mi alimento.
⁸ ¡Quién me diera que viniese mi petición, Y que me otorgase Dios lo que anhelo,
⁹ Y que agradara a Dios quebrantarme; Que soltara su mano, y acabara conmigo!
¹⁰ Sería aún mi consuelo, Si me asaltase con dolor sin dar más tregua, Que yo no he escondido las palabras del Santo.
¹¹ ¿Cuál es mi fuerza para esperar aún? ¿Y cuál mi fin para que tenga aún paciencia?
¹² ¿Es mi fuerza la de las piedras, O es mi carne de bronce?
¹³ ¿No es así que ni aun a mí mismo me puedo valer, Y que todo auxilio me ha faltado?

There are times when we are so confused and overwhelmed by the pain in our life that we wish we could die. No matter what we do, we are powerless to change things for the better. The weight of the pain and sadness seems too heavy to bear. We can’t see why our heart doesn’t just break and allow death to free us.

Job felt that way. He’d lost everything even though he had always done what was right. [Not like me]. His ten children were dead. He had lost his business, his riches, and his health. And all this happened in a matter of days! He was left with a sharp-tongued wife and three friends who blamed him for his own misfortune. Job cried out, “If my misery could be weighted and my troubles be put on the scales, they would outweigh all the sands of the sea…Oh, that I might have my request, that God would grant my desire. I wish he would crush me. I wish he would reach out his hand and kill me… I don’t have the strength to endure. I have nothing to live for. Do I have the strength of a stone? Is my body made of bronze? No, I am utterly helpless, without any chance of success” [Job 6: 2-3, 8-9, 11-13].

Job didn’t know that the end of his life would be even better than the beginning. God eventually restored everything Job had lost, and then some. “Then he died, an old man who had lived a long, full life” [Job 42:17]. Even when we’re pressed to the point of death, there is still hope that our life will change. Our recovery could be so complete that the final lines written about us might read: “At last he or she died, after living a long, full life.” We must remember: Life can be good again!

Remember, God always knows what is best for our lives. He already sees the outcome and we live in the view of what is happening now.