by Pat Nordman

Job finally came to a point where he had to speak out in his misery. Another example of speaking out in bitterness of soul is Naomi. She chose the name Mara because of her anguish in the loss of her husband and two sons in the ten years of their sojourn in Moab: "I went away full but the Lord has brought me back empty." Ruth 1:20.

Both Job and Naomi experienced the circle of life which finally touches us all, for we all at sometime go from ample to empty and from mirth to mourning. "There is a time for everything. . ." Ecclesiastes 3:1. The fact that life is a circle, a revolution, gives us hope that "this, too, shall pass," whatever the grief.

It is dangerous to indulge in resentful language while we are stumbling through our valley. As one unknown writer observed, "It's safest when God's hand is on our back, to keep our hand on our mouth." Job and Naomi must have felt chosen for the worst in life, and they vented their grievances. By contrast, David said, "I will watch my ways and keep my tongue from sin; I will put a muzzle on my mouth. . ." Psalm 39:1. We don't know what we would do under similar circumstances. We can't sit in judgment on Job and Naomi; perhaps their complaints were damaging more than sinful. Surely it didn't help their peace of mind to give life to their thoughts of unfairness.

What a grand lesson for us as we inch our way through a burden we think is too heavy to bear, forgetting that God is carrying the heavier part of it. .

Pat Nordman