“We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it and apply it to yourself.”
Job 5:27 (NIV)

I once had the opportunity to sit under the teaching of a popular speaker and author at a weekend conference. This was probably twenty or more years ago. At the time, he was around the same age that I am now. At. one point, this gentleman has been on the “it” persons in popular Christian culture. I sold a lot of his books over the years when I worked in a bookstore in my high school and college days. His name was instantly recognizable. He was popular. He was influential. He had fame in his circles of influence.

Then, he disappeared.

He was gone from the bestseller lists. He was gone from the Christian publishing circuit. He was no longer part of the conversation. There were no scandals. There were no sensational headlines. He simply checked himself out of the game.

So, when he appeared as an instructor that weekend, I was intrigued. There was one thing he said that weekend that has stuck with me all these years. I’ve never forgotten it. I paraphrase from memory:

“I’d like to share with you some of the things I’ve been thinking about. Things I’ve been learning. You may disagree with me on some of the things. That’s okay. Go right ahead. I no longer feel the need to be right all the time.”

I loved the simple humility with which he said this. I appreciated his experience driven life-and-faith lessons.

The further I get in my journey, the more I’ve embraced life’s mysteries. The more content I am to shrug my shoulders. The less I feel the need to have an explanation for every thing that fits neatly inside a theological world-view.

In reading the last half of Job’s friend, Eli’s, first discourse, it felt kind of slimy from a relational human perspective. I suspect I’m going to be feeling that a lot as Job’s friends try to comfort Job by explaining his suffering.

Eli tries to be encouraging. He points out that God works miracles and wonders. God provides rain for the crops and blesses the lowly. If Job will be make an appeal to the Almighty, God will restore him. But, Eli also passive aggressively accuses Job of being secretly to blame for his sufferings:

“Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple.”
(You must have resentment hidden in your heart!)

“Hardship does not spring from the soil, nor trouble from the ground.”
(You must have done something to bring this trouble on yourself!)

“Blessed is the one whom God corrects, so don’t despise His discipline.”
(Your suffering is clearly God’s “correction” and “discipline!”)

To make matters worse, Eli’s assured promises make light of the harsh reality of his present sufferings, his lost wealth, and his ten dead children:

“You will know that your tent is secure;
    you will take stock of your property and find nothing missing.
You will know that your children will be many,
    and your descendants like the grass of the earth.“

To add the proverbial cherry on top, Eli ends his discourse by assuring Job of his rightness, even taking the plural form to make his personal arguments sound like corporate, agreed upon truth:

“We have examined this, and it is true.
    So hear it and apply it to yourself.”

It felt slimy. Under the guise of encouragement and promises are passive aggressive accusations and self-righteous assurances that Job’s suffering fits neatly into the box of Eli the apologist’s theological wisdom and understanding.

How fascinating that as I read Eli’s discourse the Holy Spirit brought to mind the reappearance of the disappearing teacher some twenty years ago. The humble acknowledgement that he doesn’t know everything. The shrug and the admission that he’s simply not going to bother trying to prove his rightness to some guy from Kokomo, Indiana whom he’s never met and who wants to challenge his theology.

Some things simply defy easy explanation in this life.

Life gets messy.

It is what it is.

“I don’t know, Job. I can’t imagine. Nor can I make sense of what you’re going through right now. I won’t pretend to understand. I’m so sorry. I can assure of one thing, however. I love you. And, I’m going to sit right here with you as long as you’d like me to do so.”

FWIW: Today’s featured image “Job and his three friends covered in slime” was created with Dall-E2 AI image generator.

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