Days of Affliction

Job 30:16-31

16 "And now my soul is poured out because of my plight;
The days of affliction take hold of me.

17 My bones are pierced in me at night,
And my gnawing pains take no rest.

18 By great force my garment is disfigured;
It binds me about as the collar of my coat.

19 He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.

20 "I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.

21 But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.

22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.

23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house appointed for all living.

24 "Surely He would not stretch out His hand against a heap of ruins,
If they cry out when He destroys it.

25 Have I not wept for him who was in trouble?
Has not my soul grieved for the poor?

26 But when I looked for good, evil came to me;
And when I waited for light, then came darkness.

27 My heart is in turmoil and cannot rest;
Days of affliction confront me.

28 I go about mourning, but not in the sun;
I stand up in the assembly and cry out for help.

29 I am a brother of jackals,
And a companion of ostriches.

30 My skin grows black and falls from me;
My bones burn with fever.

31 My harp is turned to mourning,
And my flute to the voice of those who weep.

Days of afflictio n confronted Job, seemingly endless and relentless.  He cried out to God for instant relief, but the suffering just kept going on, and he could not reason out why it was still happening.  He felt poured out, drained, with no physical, mental, or spiritual strength left to keep him going on living this way after such a good life before the adversary had been given limited reign to assault God’s upright servant.  Job felt cast off into the mud, used up like ashes and dry as dust from which mankind came from before God breathed life into us (Genesis 2:7).  He lost sight of God’s redemptive work to come, as revealed in 1 Samuel 2:8 and Psalm 113:7 which look to deliverance from dust and ashes of defeat and looming death.  He cried out in prayer to God but received no immediate answer or relief for the agony.  It seemed cruel of God to let this go on from Job’s viewpoint, to spoil his past success and prosperity in life and carry him away as on a strong wind of evil when he looked for good.  Death seemed inevitable, and even desirable.  He reflected on the times when he himself had mourned in empathy and sympathy for the poor and suffering in these dark times of no answer of the same towards himself now.  That is why these days of affliction must have overwhelmed Job with inner turmoil and spiritual restlessness according to the things said here.  His joy turned into mourning and sadness instead of joy and glad rejoicing.  The circumstances were overwhelming him.  Our days of affliction can likewise bring us to despair of life and happiness until we see that God is sanctifying us, purifying and molding us into the image of Christ as we are reminded of in 2 Corinthians 3:16-18, where we are told not to give up in our heart, but to count all suffering as transitory and momentary in light of eternity.  We look to the end of suffering at the end of this world and adversity’s time because we are in Christ’s victory and grace by promise of such certain hope!  We live and move and have our being in this grace by faith (2 Corinthians 5:1-2, 7), knowing all sorrow will cease forever in His presence (Revelation 21:4).  Let us remember the anguish of Job in light of the hope he found out in the end, and which we know with more certainty and understanding now in the revealed word of God in the rest of His word (Job 19:25-27).  These days of affliction are but an eye blink in God’s plans of good for us and for His glory, revealing what we can learn from these days in light of eternity by God’s hand working in us.  Amen, it is so.