Rash Words

Then Job answered and said: “Oh that my vexation were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances! For then it would be heavier than the sand of the sea; therefore my words have been rash.
Job 6:1-3
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Rash Words
In pain and fear, we often lash out in anger at those who are the closest to us and love us the most.  We feel no one could understand what we are going through.  And this is true, no one has ever experienced your pain or fear, because no one else is you.  You were created as a unique individual in the image of a loving God.  The problem is that, just as Job does here, we not only lash out at those closest to us, but at God as well.  We look to God to place the blame for the pain and suffering we experience.  This is what Job is trying to express to Eliphaz, if all his sorrow and pain were weighed against all the sand in the sea, it would outweigh it. Therefore, Job turns his anger he fells towards Eliphaz for not understanding, towards God.  And the irony here is that God is in fact the only one who can actually sympathize with Job.  He in fact knows exactly how Job feels and to an even greater extent.  Though we don’t excuse Job’s rash words we can understand his situation, because we too have been blinded by grief and pain, which causes us to lose sight of our heavenly Father and all the blessings He gives us. And the greatest blessing of all is that of Jesus Christ.  In Christ God felt all of Job’s pain and grief. In Christ, God caried it all with Him, and not just Job’s but yours and mine, and that of the whole world.  He carried it to the cross and there along with it He died.  And in His death, you were freed. Freed from a life of sin, sorrow, and suffering. Freed from a life of hopelessness and abandonment.  Freed from death and the devil.  And in this freedom, you are able to love God and love your neighbor, knowing God does not hold your rash words against you.