"What is mortal that you should make so much of him, that you should be concerned about him?" (Job 7:17)

"“What is a mortal that you should make so much of him,
    that you should be concerned about him? 
 What is he that you should inspect him every morning
    and examine him every moment?
Why don’t you stop looking at me
    long enough to let me swallow my spit?
(Job 7:17-19)

While Job was asking this question because he felt he was being examined and inspected by God through a microscope (verses 18-19), even in his suffering Job knew that God was present, active and involved in his life.

Job was asking the question from a place of feeling unloved and unprotected by God. He was accusing God of acting out seething anger rather than in love.

He told God In Job 10:8,11-13, “Your hands formed me and made every part of me, then you turned to destroy me... Didn't you dress me in skin and flesh and weave me together with bones and tendons? You gave me life and mercy. Your watchfulness has preserved my spirit. But in your heart you hid these things. I know this is what you did.”

He goes on to say in Job 14:13, “I wish you would hide me in Sheol and keep me hidden there until your anger cools. Set a specific time for me when you will remember me.”

When we are experiencing a great deal of pain and suffering we have a tendency, like Job, to ask searching questions such as: “Why was I put on this earth?” 'What am I here for?'

However, when we are in pain our ability to see can be skewed. When we are in a place of feeling unloved and uncared for, we will often see things from a place of fear, confusion and accusation rather than understanding and hope. As we are afraid, we blame and accuse ourselves, God, and others.

Ever been there? You get caught up in negative thinking in your circumstances.

Recently as I was under a great deal of stress and pressure. As a result, I found myself reacting to the situation in blame rather than being helpful. As soon as I realized this, I became upset at myself for my reaction. At first, my thoughts went to, 'What is wrong with me?' 'Why can't I ever get it right?' God is probably disgusted with me right now. I can't hear Him and He probably would not want to talk to me.'

Then I moved to blame of my circumstances and God: “ Why do my circumstances always seem difficult? I don't have the capacity to navigate them. Why does God do this to me?” Blame of others: “If that person hadn't screwed up so badly or I knew earlier what help they needed they wouldn't have put me under so much pressure.” Fear: “I can see all these possibilities for disaster coming from this and my quick reaction to it. It is unforgivable.”

Blame and accusation against ourselves, God and others drains us of our vitality of life. Job was totally drained of his strength. He said in Job 6:11, “What strength that I can go on hoping? What goal do I have that I would want to prolong my life?”

For Job, he completely lost his hope and wondered why he should go on in life. In this place of hopelessness, he felt helpless and severely depressed. He proclaims in Job 6:13, “Am I not completely helpless? Haven't my skills been taken away from me?”

Job in his place of pain, confusion and feeling separated from God, deeply longed for a mediator to help Him. He speaks in Job 9:4, “There is no mediator between us to put his hand on both of us.”

When he felt totally distant and separated from God, Job knew He needed a mediator that would help him. The good news is God eventually brought about what Job had so longed for, a mediator that would act on our behalf.

Luke 9:44 (MSG) is a beautiful picture of God's heart towards us and our sin as He would go to His death in crucifixion to pay the price as our mediator to reconcile us to God. He told His disciples as He determinedly set His face towards His death, “Treasure and ponder each of these next words: The Son of Man is about to be betrayed into human hands.”

A mediator is one who reconciles a dispute or disagreement between parties. We all fall short and need a mediator to reconcile us to God. Romans 5:10 says, “For if, when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, we shall be saved by his life.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 says, “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus; Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.”

We are never without hope or outside of God's love and forgiveness. Going back to my previous example. As I was thinking all kinds of negative thoughts about myself, God, and my circumstances, and feeling distant from God, suddenly my ears tuned to the music playing in the background. It was saying what I really needed to hear: “I have not forsaken You... Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate you from My love.”

As I received the words that were playing in the background, my whole perception changed. From feeling drained, helpless, and self-examining, I suddenly had new hope for change. I remembered I was deeply loved and not alone in this. I had help from the one who deeply loves me and would see me through.

The place that we are standing and what we are believing about God and ourselves makes a huge difference in how we feel and perceive the world around us. When we stand in the place of God's love and endless goodness and mercy, we have capacity and strength through Him to navigate our situations and rise above them.

David asks the same searching question as Job did (Job 7:17 - “What is a mortal that you should make so much of him, that you should be concerned about him?)  but from the opposite position of deeply understanding God's relentless love of Him and, as a result, had a totally different perspective.

He asks in Psalm 8:4-6, “What is man, that you are mindful of him? and the son of man, that you visit him? For you have made him a little lower than the angels, and have crowned him with glory and honor. You made him to have dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet: …”

David also knew that God examined him and was very present, active and involved in his life. In Psalm 139:1-18, David proclaims from a position of love,

“You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.
Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.
For you created my inmost being;
  you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How amazing are your thoughts concerning me God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.

How we see and our ability to navigate difficulty is greatly impacted by the lenses we are looking through. Matthew 6:22-24 says, “The light of the body is the eye: if therefore your eye be single, your whole body shall be full of light. But if your eye be evil, your whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you be darkness, how great is that darkness!”

A quote I read on the internet from Martha Washington today spoke to this.  It said,

"I have learned that the greater part of our misery or unhappiness is determined not by our circumstance but by our disposition."

I notice this same kind of hopelessness and helplessness of Job or overcoming spirit of David is demonstrated in children more frequently based upon the environment they are raised in. (Speaking in generalities here.) Children who are raised in homes where they feel unloved have a much more difficult time navigating life. They are more frequently depressed and/or have trouble with behaviors such as cutting, rebellion, and/or mental illness.

Where children who are raised in homes that reflect a deep love and acceptance are just more able to deal with difficulties and overcome negative circumstances that come their way. They typically have more a sense of life and vitality along with the confidence and abilities to navigate circumstances that come their way unexpectedly.

People who are in poverty and lack love are typically looking at life from a perspective of how to survive and get through. They look for how to get what they need. They do not trust it will be provide.  Often kids who come from a home where they were not loved or cared for have learned 'survival skills' to protect themselves and get what they need such as lying, stealing and manipulating.

Whereas people who stand in the place of being deeply loved are able to look at life from a different perspective.  They typically have a basic trust that their needs will be met.  Since they know they are cared for and will have what they need to survive, they can begin to ask themselves deeper questions of 'what was I created for?' As they mature they typically look at life from a perspective of how to contribute and make a difference with the gifts and skills they have been given.

Lord, my writing didn't go in the direction that I intended but you still answered the question on my heart about what it looks like to have a full life in this season. It isn't about having easier circumstances even though sometimes this is what I desire. It is about standing in the place of love. Thank you for always giving me what I need at the moment to navigate life. You are so good to me.

Lord, Thank you for the gift of your love. Help us to fully stand up in it. Be with us and give us what we need in this season to navigate through difficulties.

"Lord, you have searched me and know
When I sleep and when I rise.
You’re familiar with all my ways.
Even the darkness will shine
Like the day when you look into my heart.
So, here I am again
Willing to be opened up and broken like a flower in the rain" sings in the background.