Central Truth

People preserve the delusion of invulnerability at the expense of others and at the expense of God.

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Reflections

Job is a difficult book. Life is more difficult than Job. And God does not offer simple explanations.

Job was a real man. A real man made brought to a real point where he had absolutely no control or even knowledge. Job never knew what was actually going on. He was not privy to God's court and did not know he was a cosmic example. What he knew was supernaturally paced, overwhelming pain. He knew dozens of deaths and thousands of losses tied to him. He knew friends who came to comfort, then to condemn him. Why? Eliphaz and the two others condemned Job out of a potent need to give answers, rather than tremble at truth.

Definitive answers about another's loss appear to be truth. They give us delusions of invulnerability, like "I can avoid that horror, because I am not . . ." "It happened to them, because . . ." Delusions of invulnerability exist in the belief in special protection, based not on faith, but on experience. The horrible "It" will not happen to me. History (circumstance) proves I am special! Job's life kills these lies with nuclear effectiveness. Satan nuked Job - with God's permission - and his friends saw the devastation. To avoid devastating awareness, they needed Job to be wrong, while they were right.

Job calls his friends on their refusal to ingest his new reality, to lose their delusion in order to reach him. "For you have now become nothing; you see my calamity and are afraid." Job knows they must replace presumption of their own specialness with frightening awareness, but they refuse. True awareness means pain. For the friends, control in the form of definitive (though wrong) answers mean safety. Admitting their fear at the stunning destruction of a life is a sacrifice too far.

To be a deep and powerful friend can mean ingesting incredible pain. Twenty years ago, I began sacrificing my invulnerability beliefs. Over the twenty years, the costs mounted. Was it worth it? Yes. Some would say I am a powerful friend. You see if life is hard, and if God is not offering simple explanations, neither will I.

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Discussion Questions

Seeking simple explanations for tragedies protects our sense of control and protects our delusions of invulnerability. Explanations can protect us from faith. Control can protect us from God. Control can protect us from powerful friendships.

1. Today, is control one of your god substitutes? A replacement for dependency on Christ?
2. With God, do you seek explanations or relationship?
3. What times in your life have you given into the demand to misuse answers?
4. When have you ingested another's tragedy in order to be a powerful friend?
5. What came from that decision? Will you do it again?
6. Who has been a powerful friend to you?

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