I'm Glad Job Was a Complainer

Job 7:6 KJV

My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.

Job never cursed God, (Satan said he would and his wife goaded him to do it) but Job did curse the day of his birth. His complaints are real and they are intense. Job was suffering terribly. He said his days were spent without hope and his nightmares prevented his relief in sleep.

There is good reason for us to hear Job's complaints. They provide a context for the degree to which he suffered. This was no trivial pain. Though he never curses God and never (as far as I can tell) contemplates suicide, he does wish he was not alive and he does not mean it metaphorically.

I have had those who, when I have brought Job into a discussion about their pain, have insisted that Job's story is not comparable to theirs because Job had God's grace. I am convinced that the reason God preserves as the infallible Word, Job's complaints is so we can see that is not the case. Job suffered to the point of wishing for death and seeing no hope or help from God. He confessed himself a sinner (though he was convinced this affliction was not chastening for sin). Job went to the deepest depths and he did it so we could see the outcome. God used Job not just to squelch the accusations of the devil but to be an example for the believers for the rest of human history.

Praise God for the message of Job.

• Thank God he was born
• Thank God he did live and
• Praise the Lord he did not die in these afflictions

Job stands eternally as an example that a man can reach the depths of despair and remain true to God and then come out in victory.