AN EMOTIONAL MELTDOWN

Job 7:1-21

Whether we want to admit it or not, we’ve all been there before. Let’s not sugarcoat it, or try to excuse it away, as if it was justified because Jesus kicked over the money tables. Many of us, including myself have had the all-out meltdown. From crumbling on the floor for a sob session to throwing objects across a room. Our meltdowns come in all shapes and sizes and result for all kinds of reasons. They’re ugly; they require for the man a sleeve or for the woman a tissue and, usually, some kind of intervention. 

I came across a couple of questions that I want us to think about as we go through this chapter of Job. What if our meltdowns weren’t meant to play out that way? What if God has a better plan for us than crumbling with every crushing emotion? What we are about to witness is Job having an emotional meltdown. Job is demonstrating for us, a man, who cannot see past the hurt to the hope of anything good (earthly speaking).

So what is a meltdown? A meltdown is: “Frustration, anxiety, stress, upset, and depression: Together they can lead to an emotional eruption, or what some people call a “meltdown.” Sometimes you feel so emotionally overwhelmed by unpleasant feelings that you can no longer control them or hide them from others. Job in a sense is had enough and feels like giving up. He thinks he will never see relief and that suffering will mark his life to the end. Having replied to Eliphaz in previous section, Job takes he protest to God this time. (v1-v21). What Job says here, reveals to us more about his physical well-being and his life! Job piles up a vivid portrait of his life under the sun; except there isn’t much sun. It has been said that when we are in pain or under stress, we go back to being little children very quickly. The more the pain or the stress, the further back we go. One Author said “We can go back so far that we are reduced to the level of a two year old that doesn’t have the language skills to put to feelings, so the only other option is crying and tantrums.” And if we don’t go back that far we usually end up in the camp that says “Why? Here we see a seasoned grown man howling like a two year old, desperately wanting to talk to his father. Here being, God the Father. Here is a man who is asking God, the “Why?” question. (v20) gives us the clear picture of this “Why?” question to God. “Why have You made me Your target? Have I become a burden for You? (v20)

  

We also will see over the course of this letter Job asking why…. 

“I will say to God, Do not condemn me; let me know why you contend against me.” Job 10:2

"Why did you bring me out from the womb?” Job 10:18

“Why do you hide your face and count me as your enemy?” Job 13:24

“I cry to you for help and you do not answer me; I stand, and you only look at me.” Job 30:20

What is it that we always seem to the need to know “why” all the time? Where does this come from? That we have this obsession and idea that “I need to know why this is happening?” For Job he ventures out to seek an answer to his “why” question. But ends up more frustrated and having a meltdown like a two year old child in the toy department in a Walmart.

He compares his unrest and suffering to a lifelong session of hardships. 

(v1) “Hard service on earth” is reference to appointed time of warfare or hardships. What Job is saying is “Man’s days are filled with forced labor in this world of woes.” Man longs to be relieved from the difficulty of like a slave longing for the evening shadows. After a hard day’s work or the slave that works all day, they seek rest in the night as hired hand seeks his wage after a long day of work. (v1-v6) For Job and the suffering he is going through, he finds no rest or relief for his pain. Even the slave finds peacefully rest and sleep, as the hired worker finds rest after a long day of work. But for Job, he cannot find either. For Job he is in complete unrest and desires what the slave and workers have, and that is rest at the end of the day. (v3)

  

Suffering can have a great effect on the child of God, because to be honest our lives are riddled with suffering from one degree to the next. We see this played out in the death of loved ones or someone close to us. Wayne Gruden said “God allows us to experience death, rather than taking us immediately to Heaven when we become Christians, is that through death we imitate Christ in what he did and thereby experience closer union with Him.” The Apostle Paul says suffering provides a closer union with Christ as fellow heirs to the King “and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.” Rom 8:17. Peter penned these words “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” 1 Peter 4:12-13 

Suffering is a part of life for the elect and non-elect.

The only difference is our hope is in the eternal Son of God who gave Himself up for us. We see this in the diseases that plague the human body; cancer, dementia, leukemia, stroke and heart, diabetes, Tuberculosis and the list goes on. Our lives are riddled with suffering and we need to understand that Christ is our example to follow even when we don’t understand why this is happening. Why do I say that? Peter penned these words “Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution, whether it be to the emperor as supreme, or to governors as sent by him to punish those who do evil and to praise those who do good. For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish people. Live as people who are free, not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but living as servants of God. Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor. Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.” 1 Peter 2:13-21

Our obedience to God is more important than preserving our own lives, because the gospel gives hope to the suffering saint. Unfortunately with Job as he laments to God…. We see a man in deep despair with suffering who physical and mental pain sees nothing but futility and emptiness. Depression has a way of keeping us from focusing on Christ and His goodness. Depression has a way of keeping us from seeing that hope that lies ahead because according to Job there is no light at the end of this tunnel. (v7) Job believes that death is imminent and he is longing for this day, because there is no reason to continue. It’s the person who says “There is no reason to get out of bed.” For someone in this state of mind, getting out of bed is a big deal. What Job is dealing with here is a big deal and he is looking for relief from this life.

Job says “my life is a breath” (v7-v10) 

Where else have we seen someone say this? James said “What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.” James 4:14. Here today and gone tomorrow, it’s that quick as a cloud fades and vanishes away with the wind. (v9-v10). What Job is saying “Death comes quick and never to return because he would be gone forever.” Meaning! That death would end his suffering and the routines of life as he goes through suffering. My sense of purpose in this life is over, because he believed his death was pending.

What Job doesn’t know, that we know, is that he is a wonderful example of a man who abided under the pressures of suffering. This means that Job is someone who “perseveres” even under pressure. I know it seems hard to say that about Job in this moment, but yet again. Job is upright in the eyes of God. It might seem Job is showing signs of impatience but in reality he is completely submissive to God sovereign plan over his life. James said “As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Behold, we consider those blessed who remained steadfast. You have heard of the steadfastness of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.” James 5:10-11. James said before this “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.” James 1:12

See! The Christen life is to persevere, to abide under, as we go through suffering, and in this life. We run the race, with agony; it’s going to be painful until the finish line. But it’s there, its Heaven, where we are welcomed in by the One, who is watching, and waiting, calling sinners to come home.

I’m reminded of the song “Softly And Tenderly”

“Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling,

calling for you and for me;

see, on the portals he's waiting and watching,

watching for you and for me.”

Jesus is watching and waiting at the portal calling his children to come home at His perfect time. Not ours! For Job his time is not yet so we get to continue to see God do a mighty work in his life, as an example for us to follow in our suffering.

Job, like all of God’s created children, has a breaking point! I think we see it here! (v11-v21)

(v11-v21) Job is saying “Leave me alone and stop giving me so attention” Because there seems to no answer to his long drawn out suffering coming from Heaven. It is almost like Job is telling God, “I’m unworthy to receive this much attention, so forsake me and let me be.” His protest is so colorful he says to God that He isn’t some sea monster, who is dangerous that needs to be watched evet minute. (v12) This is the second reference to this sea creature so far, and we will see it introduced again in chapter 41. Job feels like he is being treated as a monster of the deep and he is convinced that God has put him under guard. “Big brother” is watching you Job! There is no way to escape God the watcher of men. And for Job; the one place where you are to find rest has become a place of nightmares and horror. (v14-v15). Day or night there is no relief for Job and his sufferings and Job is at the end of his rope (so to speak). (v16)

What Job is saying is “I despise my life, so let death come and leave me alone.” When you see things through the lenses of suffering it’s easy to lose focus and perspective. But when we look at everything through the lenses of the cross, we begin to see past the hurt and we begin to see the hope that lies within us. Our hope is Christ and in nothing else.

(V17) is one of those moments where you want to pull the car over and weep!

“What is man, that You make so much of him, and that You set your heart on him, visit him every morning and test him every moment?” What we learn here is something absolutely amazing! That a holy and transcendent, sovereign God who is completely satisfied in the Godhead would consider a sinner like you and me. That a holy God would invest His love into a rebel like you and me. That a holy God would carry and challenge me every day for His glory and my good. That a holy God would save me from myself, because it’s my sin that separates me from a holy God. That a holy God would love me with an everlasting love that displays grace and mercy every morning despite how I feel, or my attitude.

Where have we seen this question before? Psalm 8:1-4 we read David’s cry “…When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” What Job is saying is “Why would God bother go to this extreme, is man really worth God’s effort?” There seems to be no purpose for these painful tests, they only seem meaningless.

But does our suffering go to waste?

The answer is NO! Because Job answers his own question here in this meltdown! (v17-v18) Suffering shows that God makes much of us, and it shows our place in God’s world that He thinks us worthy to suffer. Suffering also confirms our sonship in Christ. “FOR WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE CHASTENS, AND SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?” Heb 12:6-7. The Hebrew goes on to say “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” Heb 12:11. Suffering paves the way for comfort and God tempers the outward hurt with an inward peace. Jesus said “Most assuredly, I say to you that you will weep and lament, but the world will rejoice; and you will be sorrowful, but your sorrow will be turned into joy.” John 16:20

Job is complete meltdown mode and has no more in the tank . (v20-v21)

 Job asks God what sin I have done that merits this kind of suffering. What did I do that made me your target? Are You trying to get rid of me? Job is a man of integrity and the last thing he wants to do is…sin against God. If there is sin, reveal it, and I will repent to stop this bleeding. But Job’s suffering is not over sin is to demonstration for us to see perseverance in our suffering. Suffering strengthens us, even when we don’t see it, even in the middle of a meltdown. Like Job we sometimes treat our suffering the same way! Life is futile and it can have the effect that it feels empty or worthless as we go through suffering. Though we are marked by suffering we find rest in the midst of suffering in the sovereign God who gives us the hope of eternal rest. The gospel gives us hope to endure for the glory of His name. 

As J C Ryle reminds of God’s goodness in the midst of our suffering! 

His mercy is yours . . to save you, to remove your guilt, and to sympathize with you in times of distress. 

His wisdom is yours . . to provide for you, to counsel you, and to direct all things for your good. 

His omnipotence is yours . . to guard and protect you in the hour of danger, to support you in every conflicting scene, and to preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom. 

His goodness is yours . . . to supply all your needs, to enrich you with the best of blessings, and to grant you unfading happiness in the mansions of glory.

His omniscience is yours . .  to behold you in every situation, adverse or prosperous; to foresee all the attacks your adversaries intend to make upon you; and to provide for your present and everlasting security. 

His omnipresence is yours--therefore He has said: "In six troubles I will be with you, and in seven I will not forsake you."  "I will never leave you nor ever forsake you." "Lo! I am with you always, even to the end of the world."

His justice is yours . .  to fulfill all covenant engagements,  to reward you with a dwelling-place in the realms of bliss, to punish all those hostile powers incessantly opposing you.

His immutability is the rock of your security, and the source of your unspeakable joy!

His faithfulness is yours, as the pledge for the accomplishment of all those exceeding great and precious promises to those who believe.

  

J C Ryle went on to say “Oh! the happiness of the Christian, in having the Lord for his God! Rejoice and say, "The Lord is my portion, therefore will I hope in Him!"

  

It is the privilege of Christians to say, "For this God is our God for ever and ever! He will be our guide even to the end!" Psalm 48:14. Christians, rejoice that this God is yours! Before you have your next meltdown remind yourself of these truths as you go through suffering. 

Rejoice that God is your hope 

in this life and for eternity.