And a second

One from this week. I've been on a Job kick lately (mainly because that's just where I'm at in my reading at the moment). It's so wonderfully written, it's a shame that gets overlooked sometimes:

Job 7:17-18—What are human beings, that you make so much of them, that you set your mind on them, visit them every morning, test them every moment?

The book of Job is one of my favorite books of the Bible. It is truly representative of a “thin place”—a place where the divide between human and divine seems not so large. In his despair, Job unwittingly finds God nearer than ever, available for conversation, even, though it is probably not the conversation Job would most want to have. Here, Job asks the question many of us find ourselves pondering, in both good times and bad—who are we to be children of God? What is so special about our species that we find it possible to commune with the Almighty? The question in answer to our question, though, is who is God, that God should deign to seek relationship with us? The answer to that, of course, is greater than we can ever know. God is love, and God is loving. God is patient, God is compassionate, and God is faithful. In Jesus, God is revealed, also, to be a God of suffering love. God is not abstract, not content to sit far-removed and watch creation play itself out. No, God suffers with us. Our suffering is God’s suffering, because God has created us and called us good. We are called to find joy in our suffering not because we are to be masochistic or just because our trials make us stronger, but because we have a faithful companion in our suffering, an empathetic God. Remember that, in your times of trial and tribulation—God is with us, has been with us for all time, and will be with us until the end of time and beyond. Recognize in suffering the opportunity to find those thin places, and cling to God ever more strongly as God carries you through to the other side. This is the source of our greatest blessing, and with it we should rejoice at all times!