"The Wall"

Scripture Passage For Today

JOB 19:1-21:34

Scripture Focus

21 “Have mercy on me, my friends, have mercy,
       for the hand of God has struck me.
22 Must you also persecute me, like God does?
       Haven’t you chewed me up enough?
23 “Oh, that my words could be recorded.
       Oh, that they could be inscribed on a monument,
24 carved with an iron chisel and filled with lead,
       engraved forever in the rock.
25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
       and he will stand upon the earth at last.
26 And after my body has decayed,
       yet in my body I will see God!
27 I will see him for myself.
       Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!
                                      (Job 19:21-27 NLT)

Observation

I can’t pick one verse for today, or even five or six, apparently! For me, this whole section of Job 19 captures so much I just don’t think I can ignore.

Verses 21-22 register Job’s complaints toward his friends. And those complaints connect with me because of what Janet Hagberg and Robert Guelich say in a book titled “The Critical Journey”. (Yeah, I know—we’ve all got a copy of that one!)

In that book, Hagberg and Guelich describe stages in the journey of faith, including a place they call “The Wall”. At “The Wall”, they say, we question, explore, doubt, feel uncertain—our life of faith feels different and more uncertain than it ever has before—and we must “decide anew whether we are willing to surrender and let God direct our lives.” Ever been there?

“The Wall” is a place of significant spiritual crisis—and seems to describe, to me, where Job finds himself. The pertinent point (for now) is that Job gets no help from his friends—they have no ability or willingness to understand the crisis he’s walking through.

22 Must you also persecute me, like God does?
       Haven’t you chewed me up enough?
                                         (Job 19:23 NLT)

That caught my attention because Hagberg and Guelich say that “The Wall” is where the church does its poorest job of helping people progress in faith. We don’t know what to do with questions people don’t have answers for—how to let people discover their own answers. We often aren’t willing to simply be present in supportive ways while waiting patiently for struggling believers to sort out whatever might be challenging them. (And BTW, I plead guilty as charged!)

It seems to me that that’s what verses 23-24 are about. “Oh, that someone would simply listen to my complaint; simply hear what I’m trying to say!”

And then, in verses 25-27, Job arrives at a moment of insight—a spark of faith! Yes, it appears to be only for a moment, and then the conversation resumes. God won’t deliver a full answer to Job—one that settles the issue for Job—until the closing chapters. But in one of the great prophetic declarations of the Old Testament (again, given especially that we’re reading from the oldest book of Scripture), Job declares…

25 “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
       and he will stand upon the earth at last.
26 And after my body has decayed,
       yet in my body I will see God!
27 I will see him for myself.
       Yes, I will see him with my own eyes.
I am overwhelmed at the thought!
                                       (Job 19:25-27 NLT)

Job’s words—even in the midst of a faith crisis—prophetically affirm the promise of a Redeemer who stands upon the earth, the assurance of a resurrection for Job, and a confidence of the face-to-face for which Job longs!

As for me, I want to more skillfully serve those who struggle in a way that affirms their worth—and even the value of their crisis—while letting God supply their answers.