Bring Job to Your Job If Things Get Really Bad
I've been working my way through the Book of Job during my morning Scripture study time. It's been a while since I last read this rather daunting story of an innocent man suffering in ways that most of us - fortunately - can only imagine. A few things to note here:
1) If you don't make time to read Scripture, ideally each day for, let's say, 15 minutes or so, resolve to do so now. You don't need any special scheme or method here. Just pick up your Bible and start with Genesis. There may be better ways to do this, but it's how I started a while back. It's been well worth the effort, and will be for you too.
2) If you develop this habit, you'll eventually read the entire Bible - more than once. Just do it and you'll see. I think I've gone through the Bible at least four times in total. Frankly, I've lost track.
3) Over time you'll find you can apply what you're reading to your daily life, including your work. This took a while for me. The reason was that, at first, I was looking for prescriptions of some sort. And while you'll find those in abundance in some books of the Bible (Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Gospels, etc), other parts of the Bible differ.
The Book of Job, for example, tells a story. As I'm reading it now (for at least the fourth time), I approach it as just that. As such, it's as engrossing a tale as you can imagine. And while I'm sure a Scripture scholar could teach me a thing or two, you really don't need a formal education in Bible studies to learn a lesson or two if you simply read the story with attention, without rushing through it.
Doing just that, this time around I found a brief passage that described life when things have turned against you in a way that - again, fortunately - most of us can only imagine. However, it may come in handy the next time you get even close to the disasters that Job faced.
One example from work that jumped out at me was being laid off. It's not something anyone wants to face. It happened to me shortly after we had our third child. I was making just enough to support the family. We hadn't really had much chance to save money, so our "cushion" was thin. The day it happened was my birthday, just to add a little spice to the mix. Not good.
Another example from personal experience might be losing a large deal (for me anyway) that would have bolstered my faltering position in the company and provided a good pop of income at a time when it was most needed. (At this point we had a reasonable cushion, so that helped.) Losing was bad enough, but the way the deal collapsed made it a rather emotional event. The senior colleagues who had committed to support my efforts basically changed their minds and pretty much left me "high and dry" without any apology or recognition of their rather bad behavior. That hurt.
You can probably think of your own examples not only from work, but, of course, your personal life as well. And while each of us reacts in his own ways when things go terrible wrong, read Job's comments here and tell me this doesn't capture those feelings in an unparalleled manner.
He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance like strangers have departed from me. My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me. They that dwelt in my house, and my maidservants have counted me a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes.
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth. My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb. Even fools despise me; and when I was gone from them, they spoke against me. They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I love most is turned against me. The flesh being consumed. My bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth. (Job 19:13-22)
Job is talking about God in the first sentence - although he impressively never "blames" God or resents Him. The Douay-Rheims translation we used here supplies this commentary: "Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved: and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire."
Next time adversity comes knocking at your door, you may want to recall Job's words here.
I hope none of us ever has to face adversity like Job's. But if we do (and you never know, right?) we can hope our faith and trust in God's mercy and goodness would lead us to pray as Job did: that such tribulation might have come to one as just; for the grace to react more like Job; for the presence of mind to remember that God "proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire."
1) If you don't make time to read Scripture, ideally each day for, let's say, 15 minutes or so, resolve to do so now. You don't need any special scheme or method here. Just pick up your Bible and start with Genesis. There may be better ways to do this, but it's how I started a while back. It's been well worth the effort, and will be for you too.
2) If you develop this habit, you'll eventually read the entire Bible - more than once. Just do it and you'll see. I think I've gone through the Bible at least four times in total. Frankly, I've lost track.
3) Over time you'll find you can apply what you're reading to your daily life, including your work. This took a while for me. The reason was that, at first, I was looking for prescriptions of some sort. And while you'll find those in abundance in some books of the Bible (Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, the Gospels, etc), other parts of the Bible differ.
The Book of Job, for example, tells a story. As I'm reading it now (for at least the fourth time), I approach it as just that. As such, it's as engrossing a tale as you can imagine. And while I'm sure a Scripture scholar could teach me a thing or two, you really don't need a formal education in Bible studies to learn a lesson or two if you simply read the story with attention, without rushing through it.
Doing just that, this time around I found a brief passage that described life when things have turned against you in a way that - again, fortunately - most of us can only imagine. However, it may come in handy the next time you get even close to the disasters that Job faced.
One example from work that jumped out at me was being laid off. It's not something anyone wants to face. It happened to me shortly after we had our third child. I was making just enough to support the family. We hadn't really had much chance to save money, so our "cushion" was thin. The day it happened was my birthday, just to add a little spice to the mix. Not good.
Another example from personal experience might be losing a large deal (for me anyway) that would have bolstered my faltering position in the company and provided a good pop of income at a time when it was most needed. (At this point we had a reasonable cushion, so that helped.) Losing was bad enough, but the way the deal collapsed made it a rather emotional event. The senior colleagues who had committed to support my efforts basically changed their minds and pretty much left me "high and dry" without any apology or recognition of their rather bad behavior. That hurt.
You can probably think of your own examples not only from work, but, of course, your personal life as well. And while each of us reacts in his own ways when things go terrible wrong, read Job's comments here and tell me this doesn't capture those feelings in an unparalleled manner.
He hath put my brethren far from me, and my acquaintance like strangers have departed from me. My kinsmen have forsaken me, and they that knew me, have forgotten me. They that dwelt in my house, and my maidservants have counted me a stranger, and I have been like an alien in their eyes.
I called my servant, and he gave me no answer, I entreated him with my own mouth. My wife hath abhorred my breath, and I entreated the children of my womb. Even fools despise me; and when I was gone from them, they spoke against me. They that were sometime my counsellors, have abhorred me: and he whom I love most is turned against me. The flesh being consumed. My bone hath cleaved to my skin, and nothing but lips are left about my teeth. (Job 19:13-22)
Job is talking about God in the first sentence - although he impressively never "blames" God or resents Him. The Douay-Rheims translation we used here supplies this commentary: "Job being a just man, and truly considering his own life, thought that his affliction was greater than his sins deserved: and in that respect, that the punishment was not equal, yet it was just, as coming from God, who gives a crown of justice to those who suffer for righteousness' sake, and proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire."
Next time adversity comes knocking at your door, you may want to recall Job's words here.
I hope none of us ever has to face adversity like Job's. But if we do (and you never know, right?) we can hope our faith and trust in God's mercy and goodness would lead us to pray as Job did: that such tribulation might have come to one as just; for the grace to react more like Job; for the presence of mind to remember that God "proves the just with tribulations, as gold is tried by fire."
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