“I am,” said Anne of Green Gables in a moment of adolescent woe, “in the depths of despair!’
One of the interesting things about being human is this: the necessity of being served from a great many and varied dishes on the table of life. It is true, for instance, that some folks end up with more Brussels sprouts of difficulty, Others manage to get a large portion of chocolate delight. But everyone, from time to time, gets a helping of Brussels sprouts—which is not actually a food—and at least a dollop of chocolate.
And no one’s arguing that there seems to be an unequal distribution of deliciousness and nastiness. This comes up later in the Book of Job—in spades.
So, in chapter three, Job sits in ashes in the depths of despair with his friends sitting silently by. When he speaks, the first thing out of his mouth are curses: I curse the day I was born! I curse the day they said, “You have a baby boy!” (Note: At the time, as in many cultures of the world today, boys were preferred to girls. Don’t get me started.) I curse the day I was born! I want to go wherever the dead go! God has completely surrounded me with terror!
You get the idea. On and on and on. (He does not, however, curse God, disappointing, perhaps, both Satan and his wife.)
Since we know how the story ends, we might be tempted to look at him and think, “Dude, trust God. Have faith.” But Job is, as one writer puts it, suffering from the “irrationality of despair.” He is consumed with it, and we cannot dismiss the bitterness of his condition.
And none of us will escape those days—sometimes many, many days—when it is Brussels sprouts morning noon and night. Michael Hyatt, former chairman and CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, suggests we ask one question in those tough times: What does this experience make possible? Since we understand that nothing reaches us that has not first been through God’s hands, a better question might be: What is God teaching me in this difficult (terrible, shattering) season? The depths of despair may lead to fresh and unexpected enlightenment. Time to discipline my prayer life. And my time in the Word. Time to forgive. Time to seek God about a career change. Time to stop doing that thing and seek God’s forgiveness. Time to reconcile. Time to start that ministry in my church. Or ________________. You fill it in.
Ultimately, we have the opportunity to correct our perspective on God Himself. We’ve made Him too small. As was magnificently revealed to Job, He isn’t.
And the day will come when we can hold out our plates and expect something, not just nourishing, but delicious.