Reflections on the Book of Job

(I made this reflection during the time when my prayerful and wonderful mother is suffering with cancer of the lymph nodes.)

One of the so-called “wisdom” books in the Old Testament is the Book of Job. It is not a novel. It is a real story narrated in the Old Testament. It tells us how to remain faithful to God despite the many hardships in life.

There was once a rich man in the land of Uz named Job. He was a very rich man. He owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels and five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred she-donkeys, and many servants beside. But despite his richness, he was described a sound and honest person who feared God and shunned evil. He was just indeed. When we say “just”, that means “holy”.

Now this tells us something. Some would say that if you are a successful businessman, you are an unsuccessful Christian. Of course, not! With the life of Job, we can say that money and faith are two compatible things. You can be a successful entrepreneur yet a successful Christian also. God wants us to rule over the creatures of this world. Yet, one should remember that his purpose in life is not to become rich. But, to love God, be happy on earth, and attain eternal happiness in heaven.

But one may say that he is loving God but full of arrogance. That love is fake. An attaché case containing one million pesos cash is nothing if the money there is fake. Paper money must be authenticated. The same is true with our love for God. It must be authentic. And it must be shown through actions. It must be shown in times when it seems life is unbearable.

Now here comes Satan. The name “Satan” is not a proper name. It comes from Hebrew which means “adversary”, “kalaban”. The proper name is Lucifer which means bearer of light. One day, there was an executive council in heaven, and behold, Satan was there! But see, the Lord even made a “kumusta” to Satan. The Lord was kind to Satan. And Satan answered, “round the earth, roaming about”. See, Satan was a very busy man. He is around the world. He has business all-over the world. He has multinational or transnational operations. Believe it or not, he is beside you while reading this essay. From all over the world up to this moment there are obsessions, there are possessions. He is around. Yes, he is around. And he comes with pleasure. He prowls about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

To get rid of him, we have holy water fonts at the entrance of the Church where we put our forefinger before making the Sign of the Cross. The lives of so many saints are packed with instances of heavenly protection and blessing secured through the reverent use of Holy Water. It is a sacramental in the Church. The Saints knew by faith, that the Holy Water is sanctified by the blessing of the Church and is a most effective aid in all conflicts with the powers of Hell, where Satan is the CEO.

Satan argued in front of God, that the person Job was not really faithful to God. Satan said that “Job was faithful because he had never experienced pain, suffering, trials, failures. He was rich. His life was very comfortable”. Satan was very witty indeed. He was angel of light before, remember.

And God said, “Ok, all he has is in your power, but keep your hands off this person. Spare his life”. And immediately Satan left the presence of God to do his business. “Aksyon agad”. See why many have come to be deceived by Satan and why there’s a sort of success in his works? Because he is very efficient. What he has to do, he does it quickly. He does things fixed immediately.

Then all of a sudden, Job lost all his possessions—all his sheep, all his camels, all his oxen, and mind you even his sons and daughters where all dead. But you know what Job did? Did he ask the Lord why? Did he make a litany of “why’s” to God? No! What did he do? He knelt to the ground and worshipped the Lord instead!

When this kind of things happens to us, what do we do. Some people stopped praying. Yes, some would talk to God. They would make the litany of “why’s”, why Lord why? But question, do we ask God why we are handsome? Do we ask God why are we talented? Do we ask God why we are that intelligent? No! Then why? Reason is, we only want good things. We only want successes. We do not include failure in our vocabulary so we are not prepared when it comes. And for sure it will come. The truth is, life is a mixture of successes and failures. Without failures, life would not be life at all.

Do we count our blessings? See, if we ask God why, we are making God accountable to us. If we are making Him accountable to us then who’s God now? Who’s superior now? People who are experiencing pains and failures and are asking God why are blinded people. God has no obligation to account.

How must we react to failures? We should react like Job. Bend our knees and pray. Without faith we cannot explain the meaning of our life. If you make heaven out of the things in this world, then that would be a hell for you. You will not be happy and in the process you will loose your sanity. The Lord has his plans. He is the one who sets the rules of the game.

When we believe in ourselves and remove God in our lives is what we call “egoism”. Why not believe in what God has told us that we are not meant for this world. God is telling us that enjoying life here on earth is not really very important what matters most is that we enjoy happiness in heaven, the happiness that is eternal. Maybe we cannot understand this. Of course we want to enjoy life here on earth, but, God is wiser. His intelligence is the grasp of our intelligence, our intellect. Thus, we must enrich ourselves spiritually. Imitate Job. Kneel down with nothing. When we were born, we have no cash. Likewise, we also leave this world with nothing.

Sometimes, during the times when we have material disadvantage, it is also the time we begin to think deeply. Come to think of it, deep reflections and realizations come not when we are in abundance and enjoying life but when we are bombarded with trials and experiencing loneliness.

Job remained faithful despite the many problems in his life. You see when we have problems some of us would forget God and doubt his existence. Sadly, some would resort to doing evil just to forget their problems. However, when we do bad things, we do not destroy God. We destroy ourselves instead.

Faith is important. We should see things in the world with faith. We should see the problems in this life with faith. Let us stop asking ourselves when we have problems, “have I done anything wrong?” Even Jesus died on the cross. Did he do anything wrong?
After Job successfully passed the test God gave him, God rewarded him. God blessed Job’s latter days much more than his early ones. He came to own fourteen thousand sheep, six thousand camels, a thousand yoke of oxen, and a thousand she-donkeys. God blessed him with seven sons and three beautiful daughters. Job lived a hundred and forty years; he saw his children and their children to the fourth generation. He died old and full of years. God indeed rewards his faithful servant.