About Job: One More Thing…

In response to my own reflections a few days ago, I want to add one more point to the lessons we can learn from Job:

• Our problems are often not as bad as we work them out to be.  While it might seem trite to say that “there’s always someone who has it worse,” it’s usually true.

There’s a woman in our church here in Kosice who lives with a debilitating disease.  Over several years, her health has deteriorated, to the point that she now needs assistance to walk.  She recently moved out of a sixth-floor apartment in a building with a broken elevator.  The climb to/from the ground floor took her nearly 30 minutes.

She has prayed for years that God would take this disease, and hundreds of other faithful believers have joined her in this prayer.  To date, God has not healed her.  She continues to live with her disease, a single mother of two teenage children.

When I think of someone who holds onto faith, no matter what happens, I think of this dear Christian sister.  She worships fervently, and has a beautiful spirit that gives us peace and joy, even though we can barely communicate with her.  And I am confident God has faith in her, too.

Our recent inconveniences are minor compared to what this woman has endured, or to what Job endured.  It’s likely most of us will never experience those kinds of sufferings!  But we can still learn from their faith – not only the way they hold onto faith, but also as a reminder to us to look beyond ourselves when our struggles seem overwhelming.