Great Plains Daily Devotional for 8/25/2020

Job 6:1-4, 8-15, 21 

Job responded:

Oh, that my grief were actually weighed,
    all of it were lifted up in scales;
    for now it’s heavier than the sands of the sea;
        therefore, my words are rash.
The Almighty’s arrows are in me;
    my spirit drinks their poison,
    and God’s terrors are arrayed against me.
 

Oh, that what I’ve requested would come
        and God grant my hope;
    that God be willing to crush me,
    release his hand and cut me off.
I’d still take comfort,
    relieved even though in persistent pain;
        for I’ve not denied the words of the holy one.
What is my strength, that I should hope;
    my end, that my life should drag on?
Is my strength that of rocks,
    my flesh bronze?
I don’t have a helper for myself;
    success has been taken from me.

Are friends loyal to the one who despairs,
    or do they stop fearing the Almighty?
My companions are treacherous like a stream in the desert,
    like channels that overrun their streambeds,
That’s what you are like;
    you see something awful and are afraid.

Wet sand – I do not think there is anything heavier! Ask any of our ERTs who have carried shovel after shovel of wet sand up basement steps after a home has been flooded. In our passage, Job, in defending his anger, says that his grief is heavier than the sands of the sea. (v.3). As a kid, we would cover one another up with sand, just leaving the head out. Some of us (I confess) would use buckets of water to pour over the sand. We did not know any better, we did not know that our play was actually very dangerous. The weight of wet sand can suffocate the life out of someone.

Job is weighed down, and his words are bitter and harsh. He is downright mad at God, and Job’s words are not calm nor passive. Can’t you hear Job as he yells “My God, my God, why have You left me?” Job is anything but patient.
If you were ever covered by wet sand, do you remember attempting to get up? Do you recall the struggle? It is like wrestling with someone else. At first, you must begin to move your arms and legs to start loosening the sand around you. Finally, you will break free, yet it takes work.

Job feels completely alone and helpless, while he is attempting to get out from under the wet sand. He turns to friends for help. He just wants them to look at him and listen to the truth of his pain. He wants his friends to tell him what he has done in his life to deserve such pain and burden. Job is wanting his friends to help him to get out from under the heavy wet sand.
For Job, the struggle was real. Our struggles are real. The weight of the wet sand seems to get heavier and heavier at times. Like Job, if we can keep our endurance during the struggle, we will break free. The endurance, the patience to hang in and keep wrestling will lead us to a powerful encounter with God. We will come out a little sandy, yet free and changed.

Prayer for Reflection

Exodus 1:8-2:10
Psalm 124
Romans 12:1-8
Matthew 16:13-20