| Some time had obviously passed since Satan's first attack on Job's possessions and his children. Then Satan was allowed to inflict an extremely painful disease on Job himself. Now for the first time Job bursts out in almost bitter questions, "Why was I born? Why didn't I die at birth? Why can't I die now?" Job's attitude varies as we go through this book. There is a strange mixture, very like our own re-actions at times. We don't have to be schizophrenic to be a mixture of faith and failure. Sometimes Job cried out from the depths of self-pity, yet at times his life was brilliantly lit up with wonderful flashes of strong faith. The voice of self-pity always asks, "Why has this happened to me? It doesn't happen to anyone else." As Job said "I wish I'd never been born". Look at his words in verses 6:1-6. In Job's best moments his words were magnificent. There was the voice of faith. In the midst of questioning as to where God was in all this, Job said, "But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me I will come forth as gold."(23:10) In other words, Job was saying, "When I have been tested I will be more valuable than ever before." Peter said that in his epistle - Trials come so that our faith (of greater worth than gold) may be proved genuine. If you were to read all that Job said in dialogue with his friends, you would see him questioning but believing. He couldn't see beyond his suffering. He didn't know what we know, but his finest words include this statement, "Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him" (13:15). Self-pity is one of the worst reactions to suffering. It can be a real hindrance to the patient's recovery. It dishonours God and is wrong for a Christian in any circumstances. Today we have so much more than Job had. We have the whole Bible. We know of Christ's life and death. We know the love of God for us all. Why don't we trust Him more? Can we ask God to help us do that today and each day? | 
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