Job Despairs of God’s Dealings
10 “[a]I loathe my own life;
I will give full vent to my complaint;
I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.
2 “I will say to God, ‘Do not condemn me;
Let me know why You contend with me.
3 ‘Is it [b]right for You indeed to oppress,
To reject the labor of Your hands,
And [c]to look favorably on the schemes of the wicked?
4 ‘Have You eyes of flesh?
Or do You see as a man sees?
5 ‘Are Your days as the days of a mortal,
Or Your years as man’s years,
6 That You should seek for my guilt
And search after my sin?
7 ‘According to Your knowledge I am indeed not guilty,
Yet there is no deliverance from Your hand.8 ‘Your hands fashioned and made me [d]altogether,
And would You destroy me?
9 ‘Remember now, that You have made me as clay;
And would You turn me into dust again?
10 ‘Did You not pour me out like milk
And curdle me like cheese;
11 Clothe me with skin and flesh,
And knit me together with bones and sinews?
12 ‘You have granted me life and lovingkindness;
And Your care has preserved my spirit.
13 ‘Yet these things You have concealed in Your heart;
I know that this is within You:
14 If I sin, then You would take note of me,
And would not acquit me of my guilt.
15 ‘If I am wicked, woe to me!
And if I am righteous, I dare not lift up my head.
I am sated with disgrace and [e]conscious of my misery.
16 ‘Should my head be lifted up, You would hunt me like a lion;
And again You would show Your power against me.
17 ‘You renew Your witnesses against me
And increase Your anger toward me;
[f]Hardship after hardship is with me.18 ‘Why then have You brought me out of the womb?
Would that I had died and no eye had seen me!
19 ‘I should have been as though I had not been,
Carried from womb to tomb.’
20 “Would He not let my few days alone?
[g]Withdraw from me that I may have a little cheer
21 Before I go—and I shall not return—
To the land of darkness and deep shadow,
22 The land of utter gloom as darkness itself,
Of deep shadow without order,
And which shines as the darkness.”
In the middle of Job’s lament, he makes some pretty amazing statements. In verse 8, Job begins to talk about how God hand-crafted him, and of course each of us. Why does God pay attention to us? Why was God’s attention so intently focused on Job? The “why” is difficult to fathom, but God made us in His own image, and that’s something no other creation can claim. He loves us because He chose us.
And that choice is really at the core of what love truly is. God chose to put our interests above His own, so much that Jesus came to lay down his life for each of us. Love isn’t about mushy feelings or some magical moment. While infatuation is fun for a season, those feelings fade (because God designed them too), and at some point you have to make a choice. Are you going to love someone forever, just as God chose to love you forever?
His love never changes, because He chose you. You are fearfully and wonderfully made, because He chose you. He’s just waiting for each of us to return the favor, to choose Him and choose life with Him forever. God has extended an offer to you to become “as sons and daughters”. As Job was finding out, that road isn’t an easy one. It’s a “narrow” path that seems an odd choice instead of the “broad and easy” way. But it’s the choice God puts in front of each of us, will we choose to love Him?