Embrace your pain

Enter Elihu. We haven’t met him before. He’s been waiting in the wings. Watching. Listening. Growing more and more impatient with Job and his friends.

So these three men stopped answering Job, because he was righteous in his own eyes. But Elihu son of Barakel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, became very angry with Job for justifying himself rather than God. He was also angry with the three friends, because they had found no way to refute Job, and yet had condemned him. Now Elihu had waited before speaking to Job because they were older than he. But when he saw that the three men had nothing more to say, his anger was aroused.  Job 32:1-5

Job’s three friends can find nothing more to say. That makes Elihu mad. Job has silenced them by his self-justification. That makes Elihu mad too. He’s stayed quiet up until now because Job and his friends are older (and by implication, wiser) than him. But he can stay quiet no longer.

Elihu has come to understand that wisdom does not always come with age.

I am young in years,
and you are old;
that is why I was fearful,
not daring to tell you what I know.
I thought, “Age should speak;
advanced years should teach wisdom.”
But it is the spirit in a person,
the breath of the Almighty, that gives them understanding.
It is not only the old who are wise,
not only the aged who understand what is right.  Job 32:6-9

We would all do well to remember this and take it to heart. Age does not necessarily bring wisdom. We must never stop learning. God gives wisdom. It cannot be bought or earned, as we saw in Where can wisdom be found? a couple of days ago. Wisdom is from God and we should be open to listening to God’s wisdom, however surprising the source.

Elihu has listened and waited. Always a good ploy. He hasn’t jumped straight in. He has focussed. Given the discussion his full attention. He has waited until everyone else has had their say.

Therefore I say: listen to me;
I too will tell you what I know.
I waited while you spoke,
I listened to your reasoning;
while you were searching for words,
I gave you my full attention.
But not one of you has proved Job wrong;
none of you has answered his arguments. Job 32:10-12

I love this next bit. Elihu can literally not keep the words in a moment longer. He is bursting to speak.

I too will have my say;
I too will tell what I know.
For I am full of words,
and the spirit within me compels me;
inside I am like bottled-up wine,
like new wineskins ready to burst.
I must speak and find relief;
I must open my lips and reply.  Job 32:17-20

Can you relate to that? Have you ever felt that way? That you will burst if you don’t get the words out. Compelled by a force within you that is stronger than your fear or embarrassment or feelings of inadequacy?

Elihu is determined to be fair –

I will show no partiality, nor will I flatter anyone… Job 32:21

Now let’s see what he has to say. He’s spent a whole chapter telling us why he has to speak up. Now let’s hear it (my paraphrase).

Elihu: Job, listen to me. What I’ve got to say is important. I’m a good man. Honest too. God has made me who I am, just as He made you. I’m the same as you in God’s sight. You don’t need to be afraid of me. But I’ve heard you say that you’re blameless and yet God has punished you. That’s the gist of it, isn’t it? I can’t let you get away with that. God is beyond our understanding. What do you judge him by human standards? God does speak, just in ways you don’t see and understand right now. Whispering in the ear of the one who needs to change his ways. Disciplining and correcting in ways we cannot understand. Ready to bring anyone back from the brink of death and restore new life. To save and renew and fill with joy. To allow the light of life to shine upon them. So that they can then say –

“I have sinned, and I have perverted what is right,
but I did not get what I deserved.
God has delivered me from going down to the pit,
and I shall live to enjoy the light of life.”  Job 33: 27-28

He speaks with a great mix of wisdom and humility. I like that.  No sense of superiority or judgement. And yet with a sense of quiet assurance and confidence. A clarity of understanding.

And then he turns his attention to Job’s friends. He has some important things to say to them too.

Elihu: Now it’s your turn, people. Time for you to listen up. Pay attention. Listen and learn. Decide for yourselves what is right and good in what I’m saying.

You’ve heard what Job has to say. That he is innocent and yet God is not treating him fairly. Look at where he’s hanging out. Who he’s mixing with. He’s given up trying to please God.

But God can’t do any wrong. Let’s be clear. God is God. It’s unthinkable that God would mess up. There’s no one greater than God. If He chose, He could withdraw His spirit, His breath, at any time and all life would cease. Everyone would die in an instant. There’d be nothing left. No one left.

Think about it. Is that what you’re saying? That the only just and mighty one has got it spectacularly wrong this time? The one who treats everyone the same – rich and poor, powerful and dispossessed. The one that no one can ever hide from. The one who knows it all. Sees it all.

What human is worthy enough to confront God? To condemn Him? To bargain with Him?

This is complicated stuff. You’re judging Job for the position he’s taken. Thinking that he deserves what he’s getting for questioning God.

There’s more from Elihu, but we’ll leave it there for now.

This is complicated stuff. Job and his friends and Elihu are talking around and around the same issue without arriving at any clarity so far. And thousands and thousands of years later, people are still talking around and around the same issue. Trying to make sense of the suffering in the world. As if making sense of it will somehow make it easier to bear. As if finding someone to blame will somehow lift some of the burden of suffering. Our natural human reaction is to resist suffering. Avoid it. Of course it is. That’s survival instinct kicking in. But mentally and emotionally, we fight it and resist it too. We are uncomfortable with accepting it. Finding a way to live with it. Embracing our pain.

I have a friend who always used to tell me to embrace my pain. I never really got it. Still don’t. But I do have a sense that it has something to do with what we’re talking about here. Finding an acceptance. A peace. Google ’embrace your pain’ if you want to reflect on this further. Or chat to friends about it today. Or chat to God about it.

What would ’embracing your pain’ look like for you today?