Job 19:21-27 / Lk 10:1-12
It’s fascinating to watch different people’s reactions when their lives hit stormy seas. To some extent, the divergent reactions are simply a matter of personality type: Some folks verbalize their troubles, while others keep them to themselves. But far more fundamental than that is the decision of some to flee the scene, while others dig in for the long haul.
We heard the prophet Job do the latter in today’s Old Testament reading. In the midst of his disastrous troubles, he spoke his word firmly into the darkness: “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that he will at last stand forth upon the dust…and from my flesh I shall see God.”
That kind of confident strength in the midst of immense spiritual and physical pain is nothing less than astonishing, and it makes us ask the puzzling question: Where did the strength and the confidence come from? The answer is that it didn’t just arrive on the scene by accident. The path had been prepared for it across many years of silent conversation with the Spirit who dwells within. And when the day of crisis came, the Spirit gave what was needed and Job was ready and able to receive what was needed.
That leaves every one of us with a very useful question: Have we done our “homework” with the Spirit?
