A new year has come. Last year is in the rear view mirror. All the plans and goals for 2023 give way to new plans and goals for 2024. For me, 2023 was the second full calendar year that Ben never saw. As I look back over the year there are so many things that Ben missed. So many times I wished he was here to share in. From family gatherings, to church services, to soccer games, to football games and track meets among so many other events.
Time continues to march on and seemingly fly by. I remember back when I was in high school thinking about how old I would be in the year 2000. And now it is twenty four years beyond that. The year 2000 seemed so far off back then. Now that we are into 2024, looking back at 2021, it seems like a lifetime ago. And yet often feels like just yesterday.
I closed out 2023 successfully completely my goal of reading through the Bible in a year. I had started to read through it in 2022 but didn’t finish. I think I made it to about October before I fell very far behind on the schedule set out for me. I decided to begin again in 2023 and though I got behind a few days here and there, I was able to catch back up and successfully complete my goal.
As 2024 was looming on the horizon, I started looking for a new reading plan. I wanted to give a chronological plan a try for 2024. I found a chronological plan and settled on that for this year. Starting on day four, the plan took me to the book of Job to read through that over the course of the next few weeks. Scholars can’t be exactly sure where Job fits in the Old Testament timeline though many believe it to have taken place quite early on in the Biblical narrative. Whoever put together the chronological reading plan I am following is of the opinion that the events occurred prior to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
Regardless of when the events happened, I like that this plan has it positioned just four days into the new year. It seems fitting to begin the year with the book of Job. There is so much in the book that can provide inspiration and encouragement as I face a new year. Job had everything taken from him except for his life, an unsupportive wife and three judgmental and unhelpful friends. He was in such despair that he wished he had never been born. He is described as a righteous man that was very wealthy as well. Over the course of one day he lost all his camels, oxen, sheep, donkeys and all ten of his children. And as if that wasn’t bad enough he was then afflicted with boils all over his body. He was a wreck.
In Job’s days it was a common belief that if misfortune befell you, it meant you had done something evil. If you were truly righteous, you would be blessed and such tragedies as Job experienced would not happen to you. It reminds me of the prosperity gospel that many preach these days. Those that preach that will tell you that if you just turn your life over to Jesus, everything will go well for you. God will bless you with good health and a comfortable life. Unfortunately that message means ignoring some of the very things Jesus said.
Word probably spread quickly about the tragedies that had happened to Job. Three of his friends came to see him. At first they did the wise thing and just sat with him and said nothing. But as humans are prone to do, they each had to open their mouths. And what came out was accusatory and judgmental. Each of the friends told Job that he needed to repent because clearly he had sinned greatly to have such horrible things happen to him. As each friend spoke, Job had a response. Once the friends all took their turns, God spoke.
Through His questions and what He said, God showed Job (and his friends) how little they really knew. They weren’t there when the earth was created. They had never seen the depths of the oceans. There was a vast world and universe that they knew very little about. But God did because He was the one that created it and put it in order. He was familiar with each part of it. God has all knowledge and orchestrates the mundane to the sublime. Nothing happens in His creation that He doesn’t know about. That extends to each person as well.
After losing all his wealth and children and afflicted with painful boils, Job’s wife tells him to curse God and die. I’m sure most pastors could tell you stories of people who, when tragedy or major hardship hit, turned their back and God much like Job’s wife told him to do. Job’s response to his wife was “Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?” (Job 2:10). The same God who pours out blessings also allows troubles. The same God that blessed Ben and I over the course of 22 years of marriage also allowed COVID to steal him away. I don’t understand it anymore than Job understood why he experienced the things he did. The book of Job says that through it all Job remained faithful to God. He did not blame God. Neither can I blame God for Ben’s death. From my vantage point it doesn’t make sense and it sure hurts a whole lot. I would never have chosen this for my life. Nobody would. But, like Job, who am I to question God and His plans?
For the Love of Ben 