“Surely, O God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household. You have bound me — and it has become a witness; my gauntness rises up and testifies against me. All was well with me, but he shattered me; he seized me by the neck and crushed me.”
Job 16:7-8, 12
You’ve heard of the patience of Job? To me that never made sense, because the book of Job is one long list of complaints. Not one to take suffering meekly, Job cried out in protest against God. Even his friends were shocked at his impudent anger. Goodness, most of us would bite our nails in fearful trembling if we ever talked to God that way.
God, however, does not get offended. He doesn’t get insulted or intimidated. In fact, in a supreme touch of irony, in the end God orders Job’s pious comforters to seek repentance for the man himself, Job, the very source of so many heated complaints.
I love that about God. Where it concerned Job, the guy was only human. And, yes, his patience was gloriously played out in that he refused to curse God and die. But it was the Lord who demonstrated the very best of what it means to be patient. God, as it says elsewhere in the Scripture, refused to break the bruised reed or snuff out the smoldering wick. God even defended Job!
The patience of Job? I would think it should be the patience of God. The God of Job — your God — defends the hurting, uplifts the oppressed, and listens to the complaints of the suffering. He may not respond to your questions with neat, pat answers, but He will always, always answer your questions with His own patience.
O, patient and long-suffering God, thank You for being so tolerant with me, with all Your children who tend to complain. Patiently lead us through our trials until praise is on our lips.
