Riding Job's horse...
In the church I grew up attending, the ministers/preachers had a euphemism for those people who were constantly bragging about how bad their life was. They called it, "riding Job's horse." For those who don't make the connection, the book of Job (about, oddly enough, Job) is a personal story of Job, who was struck down by the enemy, lost his house, family, most of his friends, his health, his position, et cetera. Almost everything there was to lose, he lost. He dressed himself in sackcloth and sat on an ash heap, scraping his boils with a potsherd. And when he spoke, it was with venom about the fact that he still lived. He cursed the day of his birth, and blessed the day of his death. To summarize... "Woe is me" and as to how that gets to "riding Job's horse," well, it's a really bad pun, and the horse's name is "Isme'."
None of his cursing and diatribe changed the fact that he had problems. It did not make them go away.
The main difference between what happened to Job and what happens to most of us is that Job was victimized by the forces of nature. Whirlwinds, earthquakes, and so forth - nothing that he could be angry at, to take out his frustrations upon. There were only two people left for him to blame, and he was clearly not the cause of all this. Job put the fault on God, crying that he had done nothing to deserve these horrible occurrences. And that's correct; he had done nothing to deserve these things.
His "friends" (with friends like those, who needs enemies?) tried to convince him that he had, in fact, done something wrong; that he had, in fact, sinned in some way to deserve his misfortune. The three friends' arguments he defeated in detail, arguing for his own righteousness and rightness. The fourth friend argued successfully that it is not, in fact, anyone's fault, and certainly not God's.
Now, it's occurred to me that I'm somewhat like Job. Okay, I'm at times a lot like Job. I, too, sometimes put the blame on God when, though God may be involved in happenstance, it is not really his fault when some things happen.
Nor should we blame ourselves for bad things that happen. Some people are quick to ascribe cause to problems, citing "sin, sin, and more sin" but in reality, "the rain falls on all." Problems are not unique to the wicked. All of us have issues.
None of his cursing and diatribe changed the fact that he had problems. It did not make them go away.
The main difference between what happened to Job and what happens to most of us is that Job was victimized by the forces of nature. Whirlwinds, earthquakes, and so forth - nothing that he could be angry at, to take out his frustrations upon. There were only two people left for him to blame, and he was clearly not the cause of all this. Job put the fault on God, crying that he had done nothing to deserve these horrible occurrences. And that's correct; he had done nothing to deserve these things.
His "friends" (with friends like those, who needs enemies?) tried to convince him that he had, in fact, done something wrong; that he had, in fact, sinned in some way to deserve his misfortune. The three friends' arguments he defeated in detail, arguing for his own righteousness and rightness. The fourth friend argued successfully that it is not, in fact, anyone's fault, and certainly not God's.
Now, it's occurred to me that I'm somewhat like Job. Okay, I'm at times a lot like Job. I, too, sometimes put the blame on God when, though God may be involved in happenstance, it is not really his fault when some things happen.
Nor should we blame ourselves for bad things that happen. Some people are quick to ascribe cause to problems, citing "sin, sin, and more sin" but in reality, "the rain falls on all." Problems are not unique to the wicked. All of us have issues.