If we humans die, will we live again? That's my question. All through these difficult days I keep hoping, waiting for the final change—for resurrection! Job 14:14 (MSG)

It's spring as I write this. April showers are falling, and the tulips are up and waiting for a little sunshine before they explode open in a palette of bright colors. Today is my 43rd birthday. It's a good day.

You start thinking about things differently when you begin to realize that actuaries would statistically quantify that you're over half-way done with this life. There are no guarantees, of course. Today could be it. There could be the proverbial Mack truck with my name on it rolling down Highway 63. However, the actuaries would lay odds that I'm really in the back stretch of this race. It still means that there are, most likely, fewer days ahead of me on this Earth than there are behind.

I read Job's despair, his questions, and his hopelessness. It makes me happy for spring. It makes me thankful for new life springing up from winter's death march. It makes me abundantly joyous that Jesus answered Job's question once and for all:

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; John 11:25 (MSG)

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Russ Morris

You graffiti my life with lies. Job 13:4a (MSG)

I was struck by Job's line about his three supposed friends, "You graffiti my life with lies."

Over the past year or so, the number of friends I've connected with on Facebook seems to have grown exponentially. It's been a hoot to reconnect with hundreds of friends and acquaintances from childhood, elementary school, high school and college. Many of whom I have not spoken with for 20-30 years.

A teacher once told me that "some friends are friends for a season, while some are friends for life." That always stuck with me. People flow into and out of my life. Some for the better and, unfortunately, some who I'd rather forget. As I look at all the good friends and compare them to the few painful ones, I notice an interesting contrast.

Good friends are genuine and honest. True to themselves and true to me, even if our lives only briefly touch. There is, however, something ingenuine about painful friends, rooted in unthruthfulness.

I'm glad I have so many true friends.

"True wisdom and real power belong to God; from him we learn how to live, and also what to live for." Job 12:13 (MSG)

"There's more to life than this."

That was the thought that ran through my head as I lay in bed as a teenager. I was a good student. I was a good kid. There was this nagging emptiness inside. I looked at my hand and watched it move. I was a living being inside this body. I was a person with thoughts, feelings, passions, intentions and dreams, residing inside a body living in Iowa at this particular moment in time. What is this all about?

That was the thought that spurred me on my faith journey. I set out on the path to find some answers, and that is where Jesus found me. He invited me down this narrow way I've been walking ever since.

I have been educated. I have read what the most brilliant minds have written. I have heard some of the most eloquent people of our age with my own ears. I have met those who are considered powerful.

Yet, nothing compares to that which I've learned and experienced from simply walking with Jesus.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and terriko

"But the wicked will see none of this. They're headed down a dead-end road with nothing to look forward to—nothing." Job 11:20 (MSG)

I've met people who lied and cheated their way to wealth, power and prosperity and never got caught. I've met a few people who have been sent to jail for cheating. I've met good people who have been blessed with what appears to be a charmed life, and I've met good people who have faced the most horrific of unexplainable tragedies.

I have no doubt that the wicked will get their eternal just desserts. But, there are plenty of wicked people who make out like bandits in this life, just as there are plenty of good people who face the most difficult of circumstances. Z lays out a common argument: if you're good you'll be blessed with health & wealth, and if you're wicked you won't prosper. It seems he uses this argument to say to Job, "You must have done something bad to have these tragedies fall upon you. If you were good, you'd still be blessed." But, all my life experience tells me that's not necessarily true. For every Bernie Madoff who gets caught, there are hundreds of scheisters who get away with their crimes. For every believer who seems to have it all together, there are those faced with horrific tragedies.

It's just not that simple.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and robertodevido

"I can't stand my life—I hate it!" Job 10:1a (MSG)

My friend recently shared with me that her son was in utter teen depression. One of his best friends betrayed him and moved in on the girl he liked. She chose the friend. What's worse. They all work together and he must watch the object of his affection and his friend flirting it up all night at work. Ouch. At this moment, the poor kid surely identifies with Job's wish that he'd never been born.

I wonder how many times the thought, "I can't stand my life" has flit through they synapses of my brain. How many times I've groaned under my breath, "I can't take it anymore." I'm not one given to despair, but there have been many times throughout life that I've felt the weight of circumstance and considered it nearly unbearable. It's one thing when you face the consequences of your own actions. It's another thing when circumstance turns against you for, seemingly, no reason.

Yet, I look back now and realize that each dark valley in the journey eventually gave way to a rise in landscape. What's more, I did eventually emerge from the valley. My spirit had been refined by the process. I couldn't see it at the time, but there was progress in my pain.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and fakelvis

"God and I are not equals; I can't bring a case against him. We'll never enter a courtroom as peers.
How I wish we had an arbitrator to step in and let me get on with life" — Job 9:32-33 (MSG)

There is a great scene in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. Harry has been accused and is facing expulsion from his school, Hogwarts. He is called to a trial and feels completely at a loss. Just as the trial is about to begin, his schoolmaster, Dumbledore appears to represent Harry and intercede for him. The charges against Harry are eventually dropped.

It's nice to have an advocate, someone who will step in on your behalf. That's what Job is wishing for as he feels totally alone as he pleads his case to his friends and the heavens.

As I read Job's complaint, I suddenly realized that I, that we, have access to the exact arbitrator which Job wished for. In the spiritual court of law, God provided his own Son to step in and stand in our shoes, to take our punishment, and to intercede on our behalf!

but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them. Hebrews 7:24-25 (NIV)