We all have low points, and even at my lowest valleys in life, I could still count my blessings: I have a roof over my head, a full belly, people who love me, etc. Job doesn’t have that. He doesn’t have a single blessing to count, except for the fact that he is alive, and at this point in his life, that’s not worth much … or is it? God has allowed Satan to take everything from Job. Everything. Even the three friends he thought he had a couple weeks ago have turned into not so great friends. He has no home, no family, no money, no job, no nothin’. And he says again today, like he said in Chapter 9, “If only there was a guy who could speak to God for me (v. 21).”
Job is realizing he’s on his own. He’s realizing he has nothing. He’s realizing he can depend on zero human beings on Earth to lend him a hand in this wretched debacle he’s found himself in. But in his lowest of lows, he doesn’t throw up his arms and say, “I don’t know. I give up.” He keeps searching. He keeps asking. He keeps begging for a way to understand what is happening. He KNOWS without a doubt WHO to ask, but he cannot for the likes of himself think of HOW to get into contact with Him. Remember, Job was most likely going through all this in pre-Temple days, and Job was in no shape anyway to go to Temple, as there were rules about grossness and stuff like that. He wasn’t neighbors with Moses, obvi. But he knew from his studies that there were ways to ask God things. There were people who could do it. However, like in past chapters, Job eludes to something greater than “just a guy,” another Moses. His wishes feel more permanent. Look at verse 22: “I need someone to mediate between God and me, as a person mediates between friends.”
And the last line of this chapter just left me going, wha?????? “For soon I must go down that road from which I will never return.” Yikes, Job. Don’t go down that road, please.
Writing prompt: mediator
Have you ever had to consult a mediator? Write about a time you needed a middle man or a time that you served as a middle man (or woman).
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