Or why was I not as a hidden stillborn child, as infants who never see the light? (Job 3:16 ESV)
Complaining
Job had a lot to complain about. Because of Satan’s accusation against Job, God allowed a series of tragedies to beset His faithful servant. And things had become pretty bad.
Job’s complaints take an odd turn. We usually compare ourselves to others, and find that other folk have things better than we do.
But Job actually comparing himself with other people who have suffered terribly… He particularly mentions here those poor children who were never born, never reached the outside world, never actually used their senses, never were revealed to the world.
And Job says they would have it better than him.
He did not compare himself to others’ lives of blessing, and complain they were blessed more than him. He compared himself to the absolute worst situations he could imagine, and wishes he were like THEM, because then he would be better off.
But he comes short of wishing he were in hell. He does not admire those people who are fully absent from the balm of God’s presence, however miniscule it might seem at present.
Because Job remains an example of faith, even with his complaints.
He is bitter. He is confused. He is suffering. He has lost most hope.
But he knows that the presence of God is enough.
Elsewhere, Job writes, “Though He slay me, yet will I trust in Him (Job 13:15 JKV).
Job’s book encourages us to honestly complain… but to realize that our hope remains in God. Jesus did this in the Garden of Gethsemane. Paul did this in prison. Joseph did this in Jail. Jeremiah did this in the cistern.
But not just because of some vague sense that God is good. Rather, we have hope because our suffering is nothing compared to what Jesus Himself endured. He suffered complete separation from God, so that His people will never be separated from Him.
In a way, it would have been better for Jesus if He had never been born.
But His love for Christians ensured that He was born. So that He could live, die, and be resurrected on our behalf.
We can pity Job. But we can also admire and emulate his faith. And most of all, we can cling to the same Savior he did.