“I loathe my life;
I will give free utterance to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
I will say to God, Do not condemn me;
let me know why you contend against me.
Does it seem good to you to oppress,
to despise the work of your hands
and favor the designs of the wicked? | Job 10:1–3
When we started the book of Job, I mentioned that the conversational part of the book (chapters 3-37) is often breezed over. As I have sat in them the last few weeks, I can see why. To work through grief with Job forces you to ponder your own breaking point. As he reaches his end, we have to ask where our limits exist. With that, what our response to these limits will be.
The title of this post was taken from a Facebook post of a friend. After listing off all of the things now on her plate, she exclaimed: something’s got to give. Many are facing the same thing. For the first few weeks of the pandemic and resulting orders, it was a manageable situation; an uncomfortable interruption to life. As it has drawn on, that uncomfortableness has grown to the point of being unbearable for many.
I have to admit, last week, I hit a wall. I am not even sure exactly why, but suddenly, I needed some space from these new rhythms of life. I was not suffering like Job, but I had a similar feeling of being trapped. I tell you this, not so that you worry about your pastor, but to point out what I believe will be the case for many: the numerous struggles connected to this virus will push our limits. Taking on new responsibilities and new precautions will begin to feel like an overwhelming burden. When people get to this place, they look for a release valve, a way to make the claustrophobic feeling go away. Some of the more common responses are:
BLAME: looking for who is responsible so that you can aim your frustration toward them.
CAUSE: many people find a new meaning or movement to get behind to shake the feelings of meaninglessness.
ANGER: many people release steam by pouring their stress out on to others.
SOLUTION: developing an easy fix so that things can go back to normal.
DESPAIR: sometimes, the inability to find a release valve drive people to a deep depression.
SUBSTANCES: most substance abuse starts as a means to relieve the pain and struggle of life.
CHANGE: these moments give the opportunity to reevaluate and create new rhythms.
Obviously, there are a lot of other responses, and some are much healthier than others. The need for ‘something to give’ is most likely a situation that you will face before this is all over. It is important to think through how you respond to this kind of stress and to prepare yourself for it (others will be affected by your response).
As we sit in the dust with Job, we have been given the chance to ponder our own struggle and how we react to feeling pinned down. We get to do it in conversation with God, who both understands the challenges we face and has the answers to them. As the tension builds in our life and we look for ways to relieve it, may we learn to keep pressing into Him, even when others options seem quicker, easier, and even more effective. May Job be a lesson for us in how to struggle in a way that grows us as the people of God, developing a deeper sense of love and devotion to Him.