This is Part 8 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.
* TRIGGER WARNING: THIS POST CONTAINS CONTENT ABOUT SUICIDE AND SUICIDAL THOUGHTS OR IDEATIONS *
In the Bible, God is sometimes referred to as "Wonderful Counselor" or "Jehovah-Rapha" ("The Lord who Heals") because you can have the best human counselors and doctors in the world, but there are some questions that only God can answer and some wounds that only God can heal. Job's situation seemed hopeless; he had lost almost everything, including his will to live, and he believed he was just days away from death. But in order for Job to find healing, he had to personally encounter The Healer.
Jeremiah 29:13 states, "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart ..." (my emphasis). For Job, as well as for most of us, that frequently requires a crisis of some sort! We all have a tendency to go about life until we are faced with problems we clearly cannot handle on our own. That is when we have a tendency to seek God in a whole new way and at a much deeper level. And God promises that when we do, we will find Him. "'I will be found by you,' declares the Lord ..." (verse 14)
Pastor Rob Link, Chaplain at Spring Arbor University, has a saying: "If you have a pulse, you have issues (semi-colon); but if you have a pulse, you have a purpose." Because despite how Job was feeling, and despite how bleak his circumstances may have appeared at the time, his story wasn't over yet. In fact, in many ways, it was just beginning. If you are reading this today, your story isn't over yet either (SEMI-COLON!); God has plans and purposes for your life, and they are good!
According to Project Semi-Colon, "A semi-colon is used when an author could've chosen to end their sentence, but chose not to." Since 2013, the semi-colon has come to represent hope for those who have struggled or are struggling with depression, addiction, suicidal thoughts, or other mental health issues. As far as mental health goes, "The author is you and the sentence is your life." (www.projectsemicolon.com)
With God as Your Author, there is always a "semi-colon".* ... A semi-colon, or a comma, or a turn of the page, or a new chapter. A point at which God "shows up".
Rather than a semi-colon, in the book of Job it happens as a turn of the page, followed by a new chapter (Chapter 38), and begins with a colon:
"Then the Lord answered Job from the whirlwind: ... "
The next four and a half chapters are almost entirely God's response to Job; God speaking to Job ... and it is a new and life-changing experience for him. Because although Job had believed in God, and trusted God, and prayed to God, and followed God, and even had a certain sense of God's presence at times, Job had never really had a first-hand encounter with God! At one point, Job says, "I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes." (Job 42:5)
There is a big difference between believing there is a God and knowing there is a God. Reading and knowing scripture is not the same as having God speak to you personally through scripture ( ... or through a "whirlwind"!), and God showed up in a way that Job had never experienced before.
If you are expecting the warm fuzzies, though, you won't find it in these chapters either. God never tells Job how proud He is of him (even though He was bragging on him behind his back!). He never gives Job an explanation of why He allowed the things He did into Job's life (even though there may be times when He does that for us). He really doesn't even provide Job with any sort of tangible "encouragement" (even though that's sometimes what we desperately want the most)!
Instead, He reminds Job that He is God, and Job is not.
"Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell me if you know so much." - Job 38:4
"Do you know the laws of the universe? Can you use them to regulate the earth?" - Job 38:33
"Who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind?" - Job 38:36
"Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar and spread its wings toward the south?" - Job 39:26
"Do you still want to argue with the Almighty? You are God's critic, but do you have the answers?" - Job 40:2
Despite what many would like to believe, knowledge and wisdom are limited: we can study science - the wind and the rain - but we can't make it rain. We can study medicine, but, ultimately, we have no control over life and death. We can study psychology, but we can't give someone an innate sense of right and wrong.
An encounter with God is humbling - and life-changing - regardless of what it entails. In the song, "Smell the Color 9" by Chris Rice, the lyrics describe someone who, like Job, tried to believe and follow God despite not always understanding or "seeing" Him; he expresses frustration that "sometimes finding You is just like trying to smell the color 9". The song begins by stating, "I would take 'no' for an answer just to know I'd heard You speak." Job may not have gotten answers to all of his "why's", and he may not have gotten to hear the God of the Universe tell him how proud He was of him ... but his crisis of faith was no longer an issue: there was a God, and Job had experienced Him personally - it was a first-hand affirmation of his faith. ... The same God who created the heavens and the earth, who gives intuition to the heart and instinct to the mind, who causes the hawk to fly ... was the same God who saw Job, loved him, and cared for him, regardless of how Job's current circumstances may have made him feel.
If you believe you have no value or worth, that your mistakes are irredeemable, that your situation is insurmountable, or that your future is unbearable, God would strongly disagree with you; and He is God, and you are not!
Job had been praying and expecting answers, but he was expecting the answers to come in the form of supernatural protection and material blessings; he never expected God to actually speak to him. As a result, Job had been doing most of the "talking"; his prayers, his communication with God, had been mostly one-way. Job, like his friends, had been doing far more talking than listening. But Job's encounter with God had been life-changing for him, and it had caused a shift in his behavior and attitude. He went from being a talker, a leader, and an influencer ... to being a listener.
"Then Job replied to the Lord, 'I am nothing - how could I ever find the answers? I will cover my mouth with my hand. I have said too much already, I have nothing more to say.'" - Job 40:3-5
At this point in the story, Job has not been physically healed, and God has made no promises of physically healing him. Job's circumstances have not changed in any way, and God has made no promises of changing them. Job's relationships have not been restored, and God has made no promises of restoring them.
Job's grief was still great, but Job had come to a place of acceptance and healing because the "healing" had come from the Presence of God, not from a change in his circumstances. Even though God had not told Job anything at all about what He was about to do, He did have plans for Job, and they were good plans -- immeasurably more than Job could have ever asked or imagined. But first, Job would need to surrender to them.
© I Lift My Voice, 2023
* God did not plan or orchestrate the things that happened to Job, and yet, in His Sovereignty, He allowed it. If you have lost someone you love to suicide, you can be certain that God did not plan it, but in His Sovereignty, He allowed it. If you are like Job, the semantics of that may bring little consolation for you when you are faced with unspeakable suffering and loss. But hopefully, those semantics may bring you some peace of mind because, since God in His Sovereignty allowed it, there is nothing you could have done differently to prevent it! One of the hardest realizations I have had to come to in my lifetime is that you cannot give someone you love the will to live. Only God can. And, sometimes, in His Sovereignty, God allows healing for them in heaven. Sadly, that can frequently usher in a "Job Season" of grief, pain, and loss for those whom they have left behind.
If you are experiencing thoughts of suicide, please tell someone! Do not suffer silently!
The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a prevention network of 161 crisis centers that provides a 24/7, toll-free hotline available to anyone in suicidal crisis or emotional distress. If you need help,
please call 1-800-273-8255 or dial 988.
© I Lift My Voice, 2023
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