Remember That You Are Dust

 

Job 1: 21-22: 

 

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship 21 and said:
       "Naked I came from my mother's womb,
       and naked I will depart. [c]
       The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away;
       may the name of the LORD be praised."

    22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

 

          Job says the words in Verse 21 shortly after he learns that his children, his livestock and his house have all been destroyed or murdered. 

 

        I must admit that I find the story of Job extremely disturbing.  The image of a God who makes an innocent man suffer just to take Satan up on a dare is not the God I have come to know through Jesus.  I suppose God had more faith in Job than many of us have in God, as he was confident that Job would not renounce his faith no matter how miserable his life became.

     We heard the words, “remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return” as we received ashes just 1 week ago. Job’s words have a similar meaning. We will leave this world the same way we came in – naked and empty-handed.  All the earthly possessions we have accumulated are simply borrowed from God while we are here.  We did not earn them; they are a gift. Try as we might, we will not be able to hold onto them in this life nor the next, if it is God’s will to take them away from us.

 

      Job’s experience teaches us that even righteous and faithful people will have to endure suffering. This is a concept that I find very difficult to communicate to those who believe that God uses human suffering as a punishment a person’s bad behavior.  These thoughts compound the pain of human suffering due to illness, death of a loved one, or financial struggles with guilt.  It is equally perilous to believe that if one is blessed with health, family and money, that it was earned rather than received as a gift from God.

 

     Dear God, forgive us when we are not as faithful as Job.  Thank you for everything you have provided.  Remind us that all we have comes from you. Help us to be strong in suffering, praising you in good times and in bad.

 

 Amen.

 

Susan