Job 30:25-26

"Handfuls of Purpose"

For All Gleaners

"Did not I weep for him that was in trouble? was not my soul grieved for the poor? When I looked for good, then evil came unto me: and when I waited for light, there came darkness? Job 30:25-26

Job did not always see the connection between cause and effect. It is idle to deny that there are surprises in the working of this law in daily providence. Events do not occur as we should have predicted. It would even seem as if wheat brought forth tares, and thistles grew upon the vine. The facts of life are very hard; they are moral mysteries, even such as trouble the conscience. The assurance is that if we care for the poor the Lord will care for us; yet here is a man whose soul was grieved for the poor, and he himself was thrust down into the greatest distress. The question arises whether we see the whole of the case, or whether at best we see but transient phases of things that are real and permanent. It would seem as if every day we needed the comfort which arises from the exercise of patience in this matter of time. The patriarch, having wept for him that was in trouble, expected that good would come, and whilst he stood at his door looking for the radiant angel to advance, behold, evil came upon him! a great dense cloud gathered over his head and discharged its floods upon his house. Job was conscious of having done right, of having been kind, of having spared nothing of all his wealth from the cry of the poor and the needy: then said he to himself, "Light will surely come," and when he looked for the light the whole heaven blackened into a frown. We must look at facts in all their reality and seriousness. Within points that can be easily fixed, the argument of facts would often seem to be dead against the doctrine of a benign and watchful providence. We have to wait for the latter end. It is often a long time to wait, and many hearts break down in the weary process. Surely God will not be harsh with such hearts, for his trials are very many and very great. We may learn a good deal from our inability as well as our ability in the matter of bearing trial. It is right that our pride should be humbled and crushed, and that we should know ourselves to be but men. When the unbeliever taxes us with having done good, and yet with having received evil at the hand of the Lord, our reply should be a frank avowal of the fact, and our argument should be that as yet we know only in part. There is a time in the process of germination when everything seems to be against the seed which has been sown: there is a point at which it is true, Thou fool! that which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die. How absurd the suggestion that we too must die in order to live, we must become weak that we may be strong, we must empty ourselves that we may be filled of God. No doubt, the atheist has occasions on which the argument seems to be wholly on his side. Beyond all question, he can point to men of prayer who are doomed to poverty, men of faith who are slaves to circumstances, over-burdened and over-driven every day, their best toil coming back upon them like a mockery and a penalty. So again and again we have to fall back upon the exhortation which bids us rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him; he knows exactly how much purification we need, how much disappointment is best for us, how many days we have to be in the prison of fear, in order to prepare us for the joy of liberty. Not my will, but thine, be done: I long to see another process in providence, one which will bear more directly upon the belief of unwilling minds, and the surrender of reluctant wills; I long for thee, O God, to triumph, and to make manifest thy kingdom; but thou art wise and I am foolish; I came up from the emptiness and ignorance of yesterday, and will not dictate to the eternal God: O teach me from my heart to say, "Thy will, my God, be done!"