JOB: When the Things We Fear the Most Come to Pass; "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes!"

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, each one came from his own place—Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the Naamathite. For they had made an appointment together to come and mourn with him, and to comfort him. (Job 2:11)

As we studied in the previous lessons, the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Does Job fear God for nothing? ... But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.” So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord. (Job 1:-8-12)

Within a matter of hours, Satan destroyed or killed everything Job had, even his children, but Job responded in the most unbelievable way. Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. And he said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return there. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. (Job 1:20-22)

But Satan didn't stop there. Then the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.” So Satan answered the Lord and said, “Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!” And the Lord said to Satan, “Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.” (Job 2:3-6)

Shortly after, Satan attacked Job's body, but did not take his life.  At this point, even Job's wife said to him, “Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!” But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” In all this Job did not sin with his lips. (Job 2:9-10)

Job was a very wealthy man with great possessions, so undoubtedly, word spread throughout the region of what had happened to him. This news caused three of his friends to come and see him. And when they raised their eyes from afar, and did not recognize him, they lifted their voices and wept; and each one tore his robe and sprinkled dust on his head toward heaven. So they sat down with him on the ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his grief was very great. (Job 2:12-13)

The qualities we all need during trials, whether our own or someone else's is ...be swift to hear, slow to speak,... (James 1:19)  When we or someone we know are going through a very difficult time, The most important thing we can do sometimes is just be there with them, in silence. A fool has no delight in understanding, but in expressing his own heart. (Proverbs 18:2) We who are wise should know when to speak, and when to just listen.  Job's friends did not open their mouths even though they they saw that his grief was very great. No one said, "I know how you feel. Everything will be alright.  One day you'll get over it." etc.; and all the other things we say when trying to comfort someone.  Instead they just waited, and finally Job spoke.

After this Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth. And Job spoke, and said: “May the day perish on which I was born, and the night in which it was said, ‘A male child is conceived.’ May that day be darkness; may God above not seek it, nor the light shine upon it. May darkness and the shadow of death claim it; may a cloud settle on it; nay the blackness of the day terrify it. As for that night, may darkness seize it; may it not rejoice among the days of the year, may it not come into the number of the months. Oh, may that night be barren! May no joyful shout come into it! May those curse it who curse the day, those who are ready to arouse Leviathan [mourning]. May the stars of its morning be dark; may it look for light, but have none, and not see the dawning of the day; because it did not shut up the doors of my mother’s womb, nor hide sorrow from my eyes. (Job 3:1-10)

“Why did I not die at birth? Why did I not perish when I came from the womb? Why did the knees receive me? Or why the breasts, that I should nurse? For now I would have lain still and been quiet, I would have been asleep; then I would have been at rest with kings and counselors of the earth, who built ruins for themselves, or with princes who had gold, who filled their houses with silver; or why was I not hidden like a stillborn child, like infants who never saw light? There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master. (Job 3:11-19)

“Why is light given to him who is in misery, and life to the bitter of soul, who long for death, but it does not come, and search for it more than hidden treasures; who rejoice exceedingly, and are glad when they can find the grave? Why is light given to a man whose way is hidden, and whom God has hedged in? For my sighing comes before I eat, and my groanings pour out like water. For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.” (Job 3:20-26)

Job's grief was so overwhelming that he wished he had not even been born; or that if he had been born, that he had died at birth. He said that at least in death, There the wicked cease from troubling, and there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners rest together; they do not hear the voice of the oppressor. The small and great are there, and the servant is free from his master.  The fear that Job had is what most of us fear, that one day something will happen to all we have or all those we love. For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes.

We have no control over what will happen to us, to those we love, or to our possessions.  But we do have control over how we will respond if or when something does happen.  We have to have a close relationship with God, through faith in Christ Jesus and study His Word daily. With my whole heart I have sought You; Oh, let me not wander from Your commandments! Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You. (Psalm 119:10-11) When we develop that kind of close relationship with God and put our full hope and trust in Him, we will be able to do like Job, while in the midst of trials and tribulations, Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong. Job did not sin with his lips.

However, even though Job was blameless and upright, and one who feared God and shunned evil. (Job 1:1); he was not perfect.  We will learn more in the next several lessons as his friends finally do speak, and how he responds, why God allowed this to happen to Job, and how Job comes to realize that indeed he did have sin in his life he needed to confess and deal with...