Job 3:1–6
1 After this opened Job his mouth, and cursed his day.
2 And Job spake, and said,
3 Let the day perish wherein I was born,
And the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
4 Let that day be darkness;
Let not God regard it from above,
Neither let the light shine upon it.
5 Let darkness and the shadow of death stain it;
Let a cloud dwell upon it;
Let the blackness of the day terrify it.
6 As for that night, let darkness seize upon it;
Let it not be joined unto the days of the year,
Let it not come into the number of the months.
Do you know the name George Bailey?
He was the fictional character in one of the greatest Christmas movies of all time, It’s a Wonderful Life.
FYI, I have actually been asked if it is theologically correct that every time a bell rings an angel gets his wings. My answer, I doubt that is true but when one rings repeatedly I get a headache.
Anyway, Bailey wished he had never been born and he saw a vision of his world without him in it. Come to find out ole George had made a positive impact in the lives of those around him and his world was better with him in it.
In today’s reading Job finally breaks his week of silent grieving by poetically stating that he wished he had never been born.
Job cursed the night of his conception as well as the day of his birth. He wished he had never seen light of day. If he had never been then he wouldn’t have felt all this suffering and loss.
I have been there, I have felt grief so great that I wished to be gone and that I had never been born at all. Intense sorrow has a way of robbing you of memories of great times and hope of a better days to come.
But what if Job had not been born?
His children would not have experienced life or Heaven in the afterlife. Without Job, none of his other children would be born at the end of the book. No Job means many in his day would not have benefited from his generosity and his powerful prayers. How many have found hope in this faithful soul’s story? Without Job’s example I may not have had made it through tough times myself. The world is better off today because Job was in it!
If you are like George Bailey or Job, if you wonder if this world would have been better off without you, God’s word has something important to say.
Don’t let your predicament warp your perception and rob you of those good recollections.
Please know that there is a God of Hope who wants to give your story a happy ending. This world will be certainly better off with you in it when you accept God’s Son into your life and let him take control!
Bible readings for January 7, 2021