Scripture Focus: Job 3:1
1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.

Reflection: When Pain Outweighs Piety
By Erin Newton

Sometimes we believe that suffering in silence is holy. To accept all that God allows without complaint is to be righteous. We have been encouraged to know that to live is Christ and die is gain (Phil 1.21).

When chapter 3 begins and Job curses the day of his birth, you can hear an audible gasp. Michael Brown points out, “Although Job’s agony has been exquisite, he has been the perfect model of godly restraint.” You expect the most righteous man of his day to be willing to accept the events of his life. His silence, even his rebuke of his wife, is testimony to his faith. But pain has a way of breaking barriers of restraint.

Reading the book of Job is a lesson in reading with patience. Has Job renounced his faith in God? Are his words a sin? Can complaints be a violation of our trust in the Lord?

The new year has unfolded before us—a day often marked with hope, optimism, and lofty dreams. But that is not always the case. When the year 2023 began, I sat in the darkness of my soul, knowing that the year would not be one of hope. The anticipation of grief clouded my mind. I looked toward the future and wished, much like Job, that I could have avoided this part of life. Despite all the good things I know God gives to us, I wanted nothing of it.

Had I renounced my faith in God? Were my pleas, “God, I did not want this life,” an act of disloyalty to our Lord?

Having walked in this darkness for some time now, I can tell you with clarity of spirit—no, I never once let go of my faith in God. I have found in the brutally honest confessions I am able to express faith more genuinely than before.

And so it is with Job. For a week, Job sat in the silence of his pain. When he spoke, he did not mask his heartache with toxic positivity. He was honest, and in his honesty, we find hope.

Some tragedies are too costly for words. Some pains too inexpressible to capture. (Some moments too sacred for social media.)

And some pains need the overflow of bitter, harsh, pointed, and honest words. God is a better friend than Job’s friends. He listens to the depths and hears our pleas.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Save me, O God, by your name; in your might, defend my cause.
Hear my prayer, O God; give ear to the words of my mouth. — Psalm 54.1-2

Read more about New Days Begin in the Dark
Job’s despair led to a desire for deconstruction, uncreation, death. It’s a common thought process.

Read The Bible With Us
The new year provides a fresh start for spiritual disciplines. Join us in reading the Bible with us at a sustainable, two-year pace.

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Scripture Focus: Job 3:20–26
“Why is light given to those in misery, 
and life to the bitter of soul, 
to those who long for death that does not come, 
who search for it more than for hidden treasure, 
who are filled with gladness 
and rejoice when they reach the grave? 
Why is life given to a man 
whose way is hidden, 
whom God has hedged in? 
For sighing has become my daily food; 
my groans pour out like water. 
What I feared has come upon me; 
what I dreaded has happened to me. 
I have no peace, no quietness; 
I have no rest, but only turmoil.”

Reflection: Lamenting With Job :: Guided Prayer
By John Tillman

Job’s language is harsh and bitter when he speaks of his suffering. He doesn’t quote platitudes. His words do not sound like “prayer.” He curses his own life and wishes that he had been stillborn. He curses the joy of his conception. He curses every circumstance or kindness that brought him to life.

Job’s prayers are not perfect but they perfectly express what is inside his heart. The scriptures specifically tell us that in nothing he said did he sin. (Job 1.22)

Complaining is a sin that separates us from God. Lament is a powerful prayer that connects us to God. With the help of the Holy Spirit, who will pray on our behalf when we are unable to form words, lament can swallow up complaining in our lives. Lament is frequent and important in the Bible and should be in our lives as well. 

The prophets lament. (Habakkuk 1.2-4)
Approximately 50% of the Psalms are lament. (Including Psalm 22, quoted by Christ on the cross)
Christ laments. (In Gethsemane and on the Cross)
Paul laments. (Romans 9.1-5)

May we lament through this prayer mixed with Job’s words from Job 3.20-26. 

Prayer for Lament:

You have given us light, even in our misery.
Help us to lament, Lord.

Help us to take our unvarnished pain to you, God. 
Help us to know that we need not soften our language or hold our tongues when we are hurting. 
You have already heard the worst of our thoughts before we speak.
We release our pain to you through our words and our wordless cries…

You have given us life, Lord, even though we are trapped in death.
Help us to lament our sin.

No matter how righteous we feel, Lord, remind us we are like dust.
Show us your holiness that makes ours look like filthy rags.
Fill us with your spirit and expel from us every complaining spirit.

Give us your presence as our daily bread, rather than the bread of our sufferings.
Help us to lament with you.

Rather than complain about our sufferings as if you did not know about them or as if you caused them…
Let us instead recognize that you are in our sufferings with us. Let us share them with you. As we yoke ourselves to you, share the weight of our suffering, Lord, easing the strain on our hearts.

Hear our prayer. Give us peace.
Hear our cries. Give us quietness.
Hear our lament. Give us rest.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
To you I lift up my eyes, to you enthroned in the heavens.
As the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, 
and the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, 
So our eyes look to the Lord our God, unitil he shows us his mercy. — Psalm 123.1-3

– From The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle.

Today’s Readings
Job 3 (Listen -2:32)
Romans 7 (Listen -4:09)

Read more about A Generational Lament
God accepts the prayer of the despairing and the cries of the frustrated and broken more quickly than the prayers of the proud.

Read more about Lamenting Our Detestable Things
God will find us and God will speak to us when we lament our culture’s sins as our own.