Hi, I’m Joni Eareckson Tada and welcome to Joni and Friends.
It should come as no surprise that me, sitting in this wheelchair, I am a fan of the book of Job. Being in this wheelchair for as long as I have, I have run to the book of Job more than many times for encouragement, comfort, and direction. Like that verse, “When he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” Wow! There’s not a one of us who has suffered that doesn’t identify with that, right?
But there’s another part of the book of Job that I resonate with. It is the very last words that Job speaks in the entire book. Now before I tell you what those words are, you’ve got to know they must be pretty significant, right?! After all Job has gone through, after all he’s suffered, after all his haranguing with his comforters, and his big questions for God… you would think the last words Job utters must be very important. And you know what? They are. And those words occur in Job chapter 42. The 6th verse contains the last two words Job addressed to the Lord: he says, “I repent.”
Wow! Now I find that amazing. Because this is the man who not only faced the jaws of suffering, he felt those same jaws clamp down hard on his life. He staked his life on the Lord, trusting him and honoring him at every turn, yet Job lost his home, his bank account, his reputation, and most painful of all, he lost his children and his health. Little wonder he grieved and groaned, stewed and struggled; little wonder he had so many larger-than-life questions for God… and Job told him so! Yet the Bible says, in all this, Job did not sin. I think that’s why Job 42:6 is significant. When God finishes describing his glory and greatness, Job is able to glimpse the big picture. He sees beyond his own pain and problems; when his vision of God is enlarged dramatically, Job puts his hand over his mouth and says – and he uses the Hebrew word – “Naham.” It literally means to lament or grieve for what you have done… I repent!
Jeremiah 8:6 says, “No one repents of his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’” but Job did. He understood (and, oh, may you and I in our sufferings also bring ourselves to understand) that God and his grand purposes are so much greater than what we see. Even for me, a quadriplegic in a wheelchair – when pain makes me feel small, I’ve just got to take a deep breath, let it all out, and believe – really believe – that God’s got it under control, that he’ll never do anything to harm my soul, that he’s not out to get me or be mean to me! Far from it, suffering is the very thing he uses to expand our vision and broaden our hopes and help us see the big picture: how we can encourage others through our pain; how our witness is proven by our patience; how heaven is enriched by our endurance; and best of all, how the Father is given glory when we give thanks in our problems. Friend, that’s the big picture!
So, join me today in this big, broad way of looking at life. And if you must, if the Spirit convicts, then maybe the last words you utter this day could be “Lord, I repent.” And by the way, if you want to share with me (a fellow sojourner on this road marked with pain)… if there’s anything you’d like to tell me, just drop me a note on my radio page at joniandfriends.org – I’d love to hear how those last words of Job’s have touched your life today. And while you’re there, don’t forget to ask for your copy of my booklet “Christianity with Its Sleeves Rolled Up.” Until next time we meet, may the Lord keep your heart soft and tender, even though you are going through some tough times. For when he has tried you, you will come forth as gold.
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