"... and The Lord Takes Away"

This Is Part 2 of a 12-Part Series on Grief, Trauma, and Mental Health

Disclaimer: I have no training or background in the field of mental health. The thoughts expressed in this series should, in no way, be taken as professional mental health advice or a substitute for it; they are merely observations and insights that I have gleaned from reading, studying, and praying about these passages in scripture.

Loss is a part of life. At some point, we will all experience a significant loss. It could be the death of a loved one, but it could also be the loss of a marriage, friendship, or other significant relationship, the loss of a job or income, or a significant loss of money, wealth, or material possessions. Job experienced all of those types of losses. As I indicated in my disclaimer, I am no expert on mental health, but I think it's safe to say that what Job experienced was traumatic. According to the APA,

"Trauma is an emotional response to a terrible event like an accident, rape, or natural disaster."

We all experience loss and grief during our lifetimes, and, typically, to some degree or another, many of us experience some form of trauma, whether we identify it as trauma or not.

But not only did Job experience all of those types of losses and traumas, he experienced them instantly and simultaneously, in a way that seemed like it couldn't possibly be coincidental. In a way that left Job and his friends wondering what Job had done to "deserve" this and how God could possibly exist or be just if Job hadn't done something horrible to deserve it. A single loss or traumatic event can leave us with those types of questions, but when there is a series of events in someone's life, either all at once or over a period of time, those types of deeply rooted questions are surely going to enter our minds.

One of the things I think is so interesting about Job is that there was one loss that was distinguished as more difficult to deal with than the others, and that was the loss of Job's health. I don't think it's ever a good idea to "compare" losses; one of the things I grappled with when facing a loss of my own was feeling guilty for struggling with it so much because I knew there were other people who had been through much worse. But trying to reason myself out of grief was an exercise in futility; I came to the conclusion that no matter what anyone else has experienced, it doesn't make my own loss any more or less painful.

But having said that, I do think it's interesting that the Bible distinguishes the loss of health from the other losses, and I think it's interesting that we may now have scientific evidence that would seem to support that. There is disagreement as to the exact percentages, but, generally speaking, the incidence of clinical depression in the general population is somewhere between 5-25%, but roughly 35% of those with a chronic illness suffer from clinical depression. (Click here to see a summary from the NIH).

I think this can be especially common when there are few explanations, answers, or remedies for the chronic illness or when chronic pain is involved. In the New Testament, Jesus encounters a woman who has suffered from a bleeding disorder for 12 years. The Gospel writer Luke, who happened to be a physician, records that, "A woman in the crowd had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding, and she could find no cure having spent everything she had on doctors." (Luke 8:43) The Gospel writer Mark indicates, "She had suffered a great deal from many doctors, and over the years she had spent everything she had to pay them, but she had gotten no better. In fact, she had gotten worse." (Mark 5:25-26) Both writers acknowledge the financial toll that a chronic illness can take, and both elude to the emotional and mental toll the lack of a cure had on the woman as well as on her doctors, but Mark also seems to indicate that the medical treatment itself had not only done nothing to improve her condition, but may have even added to her pain and suffering.

In Job's case, not only did Job experience a loss of health, but it was a particularly painful condition ("My body is covered with maggots and scabs. My skin breaks open, oozing with pus." (Job 7:5), "At night my bones are filled with pain, which gnaws at me relentlessly" (Job 30:17), "My skin has turned dark, and my bones burn with fever" (Job 30:30) ).

My intention in this series is not to get too detailed or clinical, but rather, to generalize so that we can glean as much as possible from Job's story. What is a devastating loss to one person may be no big deal to another. What feels traumatic to one person, may not be traumatic to another. Our responses to loss, trauma, and grief may vary greatly; there is no right or wrong way to grieve. But what I hope to accomplish through this series is to "normalize" these responses, and when I use the term "normal", I am not using it in the clinical sense. Whether or not a specific individual's experiences can be classified as a mental disorder or not is best left to the professionals, but my desire is to provide reassurance that it is normal when you experience loss or trauma to also experience a wide variety of reactions and responses to it, and that, in no way are any of these responses a sign of weakness or a lack of faith. And just because something is a "normal" response (i.e. - is not uncommon) doesn't mean that it doesn't require treatment or attention.

There has been a stigma around mental heath and mental health treatment for as long as I can remember, especially within the church. That is something that needs to change - especially within the church. Job was one of the earliest books of the Bible to be committed to writing and Job experienced many of the mental health issues that we now stigmatize so much. Not only did he experience them, but God clearly indicated that Job was "righteous", "a man of integrity", "had said (and done) nothing wrong", both before, during, and after experiencing all of these mental health issues, which indicates to me that, over time, people have twisted and distorted scripture ... and it's high time we set the record straight.

© I Lift My Voice, 2023

Click Here to Read Part 3 in This 12-Part Series on Grief, Trauma, and Mental Health